Sasha Zura: Red Dust
by chaos Leader
Summary: It's a short time before the Lylat war. The Star Fox mercenary team is devastated, the Lylat Union Disbanded. The forces of Venom and Corneria square off in a bitter cold war just waiting to be set off. Sasha Zura, officer in the Macbeth Military, finds herself caught in a deadly crossroads: both in her military career, and in love. A story with very strong romantic elements, enjoy
1. Running the Gauntlet

_The Venom Proclamation,  
Dr. E. Andross._

I imagine there are some pressing questions, and I shall do my best to provide satisfactory, truthful answers.

It has been nearly a year since the assassination attempt against me, and when the true nature of the Venom project was unveiled in the process. The Cornerians have sanctimoniously called this act of treachery a "reconnaissance mission," using their mercenary puppet McCloud and his Star Fox team. The stagnant Lylat Union has disbanded over the controversy, and good riddance I say. This has left Corneria and it's pawns, and the Coalition of Venom as the major powers at play.

Venom has been called a "fortress world," its facilities and inhabitants made for nothing other than war. This is true, made true only because our hands were forced to take up arms in order to defend ourselves. We only wished to advance the noble cause of Science, to learn more about the world we live in, and to improve the lives of those who lived in it. To this end, Venom was meant to be a great, unifying endeavor in terraforming: to create a place of life out of a place of death. Circumstances have altered this, as much as I wish it did not have to.

For decades, our innocent, scholarly causes were challenged at every step by ignorant vainglorious fools, who to our misfortune had somehow become Lylat's politicians. This gaggle of mouthpieces, whose seats were bought and paid for by the greedy, the fearful and self-righteous, has shouted down and smothered the voice of reason for as long as I can remember, and long before that as well.

The fantastic, magnificent splendor of how far we have come in our time is matched only by the cruel travesties of how far we have fallen. In an age where that which was once Science Fiction can so readily become reality, how can it be that "Science" has become the new codeword for "whichcraft?" Surely we have matured beyond the cinematic stereotype of the mad scientist out to destroy the world. How can it be that our lawmakers, even at the highest legislative, judicial and executive levels, can have the audacity to bicker, squabble, spit and sneer at Science as if the very Laws of Physics are simply laws which could be repealed by committee?!

You ask why we take up arms. You ask why we stand against the traditions; the traditions of ignorance, of corruption and intolerance. The answer ought be self-evident. However, like so many things that ought be self-evident, the mouthpieces have spent many years and trillions of credits spreading Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt like salt over the farmers' fields, muddying even the most obvious answers.

The great thinkers of Lylat have been pushed and belittled for far too long, picked on and made the butt of cruel jokes, like the intellectual "geeks" at the hands the boisterous schoolyard bully. Others simply looked on, daring not to stand in front of the bully, and even joined in the jeering themselves. We are left with no one but ourselves, and those caring few who would take pity on us.

Our cause was that of insight, and our goals were those of knowledge. It was never our intention to dominate, only to enlighten; never to destroy, but to create. But when reason becomes crime, and intellect becomes blasphemy, we must stand up and contest it! No longer can we sit idly by when the imbeciles condemn us! No longer can we ignore when the ignorant burn us at the stake!

This is why Venom, the great Science-Project of our time, has taken up arms!

You who have pushed against the thinkers, or who have simply stood by and watched: see now what happens when the thinkers push back!

Feel the bitter sting of Venom!

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_Comments,  
Anonymous former member of Lylat Central Intelligence._

It was a time of great turbulence and tension, those years leading up to the great Lylat War. No shots had been fired, yet, but the sides had been chosen, and the battle-lines drawn. It was a period of furious militarization between two factions: Corneria and Venom. But it was never just Corneria and just Venom. It was Corneria and its _allies; _it was the _Coalition _of Venom. People sometimes forget that, or choose to forget it, and leave the prickly uncomfortable details out of history as they know it. Better to move forward, right?

Truth was that many worlds joined in, on both sides. Sometimes there were conflicts within individual worlds on which side to support, or whether or not to be involved in the great conflict at all. The two factions were simply the strongest images of what each side represented in the conflict that tore Lylat in two: Intellect versus Honor, Tradition versus Innovation, Wisdom versus Cunning, Truth versus Lies. Not that these ideas actually necessarily mattered. Everything changed and got jumbled depending on who you asked. "Villain" and "Hero" was simply a matter of prospective.

For example, Macbeth –or at least the governing powers and a healthy majority of Macbeth's citizenry– supported the cause of Venom, at least initially, before it became a twisted lost cause. The Macbeth planetary government helped sponsor the original Venom project, worked to retool it for wartime purposes, and would even provide military support with its soldiers.

Most Cornerians and allies tended not to make a distinction: all soldiers that fought on the side of Venom were "Venomian" soldiers, regardless of where they actually came from. I mean, come on, there's no way Venom could have sprung a full military infrastructure from nowhere: it came from other places, places like Macbeth. These "Macbeth-Venomian"soldiers, while ultimately loyal to Macbeth, would not let the beacon of hope that Venom represented be snuffed out easily.

Then there's the case of Sasha Zura and the Red Dust. The things she did, the risks she took, the choices she had to make... I don't have a doubt in my mid that her actions completely altered the course of the war, and saved countless _billions_ of lives. That should be enough to make any soldier damn proud, regardless of which side you were on...

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_**Running the Gauntlet**_

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/

Lieutenant Sasha Zura dropped down the shaft into the darkened tunnel, assault rifle in hand. She took a quick survey of the area aided by the night-vision function of her headset. It was an urban utility tunnel: a relatively narrow walkway lined with water pipes, power conduits, networking cables, and an assortment of fuel lines.

These kinds of tunnels would have typically been used by city maintenance engineers to access various points of the utility lines for inspection and repair, without having to resort to the older inconvenient practice of literally digging into the ground to get to the lines. In an urban combat situation though, they also provided valuable routes to infiltrate behind enemy lines. It'd be risky to send whole platoons down however; the defending enemies would be aware of these tunnels, and would have taken measures to secure them. A larger force assaulting is liable to attract attention, trigger booby traps, and blow the element of surprise, simply by nature of there being more bodies and therefore more chances to take. That's not even considering the risk of greater casualties in combat, as the tunnels are notorious for long narrow areas with little cover, "shooting galleries" the soldiers called such places, and rightly so.

Instead, a small unit of expert soldiers is sent into the confined space below to infiltrate behind enemy lines to achieve key objectives, while the bulk of the assault force remains topside. The thick combat above should draw most of the opposing forces away from the below ground tunnels to concentrate on immediate defense, and they'd rely primarily on passive countermeasures to secure routes like this one.

Even so, no assumption is ever absolute, and every precaution must be taken regardless. It is the anomalies that invariably are the tipping points in combat, anomalies in this case such as a forward sentry on patrol, or an enemy force advancing through the tunnels themselves.

Thankfully, the odds played out as expected, and Lieutenant Sasha Zura did not find any contacts at either direction through the utility tunnel. Satisfied with the situation, she gave a hand signal up the access shaft above her, summoning the rest of the squad to follow. One by one, a small selection of Macbeth soldiers descended quietly into the tight tunnel and took ready positions.

Every one of them was clad in Macbeth military fatigues identical to the soldiers fighting above, and wielded the normal firearms load-out expected, though some of the soldiers opted for the more compact carbine instead of the assault rifle in the cramped conditions. The only significant difference for them was the advanced periphery equipment they carried. Their helmets were equipped with visors that acted as a multipurpose heads-up display, as well as night-vision and infrared filters that can be activated if needed. Most also carried packs on their backs or other equipment system, each soldier outfitted depending on their combat specialty.

The commander was Lieutenant Sasha Zura, a khaki and light-brown furred canid, husky type, with her pale hair gathered in a tight bun. Her weapon was the Axion-Tech AX-23B assault rifle: a robust, versatile weapon practically ubiquitous to Macbeth's armed forces. She was young for an officer, younger than many of the enlisted soldiers that had served under her command. Lieutenant Zura felt she had to prove herself at every moment, and this was yet another chance to prove her capabilities.

The second soldier the join Lt. Zura in the tunnel was Sergeant Gavin Fletcher, a sharp-beaked and sharp-eyed raptor avian with stone gray plumage. He was a proud member of the 42nd expeditionary marines, and had completed the rigorous Ranger training program at the top of his class. He could be a bit of a handful, but his skills were nothing short of exemplary. His weapon was also the AX-23B, but with the ever-popular grenade launcher attachment.

Next down was Corporal Anton Xavier, a larger dark green reptile from the 21st Combat Engineering Corps. He toted the heaviest load of the squad, laden with several satchel charges and a variety of compact hand and powered tools, all for the purpose of clearing or bypassing obstacles. For living obstacles though, Xavier sported another AX-23B, with the shotgun attachment attached beneath the barrel. There was never a doubt they'd need a Combat Engineer for this, and Corporal Xavier had more than proved his fighting prowess.

Lastly was Technical Specialist Silas Vance, a relatively slender primate, at least when compared to his squadmates. His realm was that of digital surveillance and electronic countermeasures: the squad's eyes, ears, as well as the confounding illusionist to opposing eyes and ears. Techies were not traditionally thought of as front-line soldiers, especially in a fireteam, but if the squad had any hope of making through quickly and undetected, Specialist Vance's unique skills would be absolutely necessary. His weapon was the compact AX-27C carbine. His gear consisted of an array of sensory equipment, jammers, wiretaps. Everything came together at his wrist-mounted computer interface.

Once the squad was in, every member fitted suppressors to their main weapons and sidearms. It wouldn't block the blaster flashes, but it'd muffle the noise enough. Shortly thereafter, Lieutenant Zura gave the hand signal to proceed forward. The decision was made beforehand to proceed with the covert assault in complete radio and verbal silence, taking into account the very real possibility of EM monitoring systems that might pick up such transmissions, as well as audio pickups. So the squad had developed and drilled a series of hand signals for most probable situations to act as their means of communication for the mission.

At the first corner, Sasha, at the front of the column, gave the hand signal to hold, and another hand signal to bring Specialist Vance forward to scope the situation.

The Primate came forward with the snake: a miniaturized interdependently mobile camera, attached by wire now to remove the risk of wireless transmission pickup. Silas came to the corner, set the snake down and sent it around to check it. The tunnel opened up into a somewhat more open hub, with a few more utility tunnels branching away. This was known: the squad was given known schematics for the tunnel system beforehand. What was more pressing was what sort of traps or monitoring were waiting for them.

Specialist Vance gave them the hand signal that indicated 'thermal imaging monitor', in response to which Xavier allowed himself to let out a little irritated sigh. They'd anticipated having to undermine thermal imaging, but not quite as early as this. There were two basic methods to confound thermal imaging: either raise the surrounding ambient temperature to the same as body temperature, or lower the emitted temperature to the same as the ambient. There wasn't time to raise the room's temperature, and it would've alerted the enemy anyway, so they'd have to lower the emitted temperature of at least one of the squad members. In this case, it would be Corporal Xavier, since he was the cold-blood reptile who's physiology would respond most readily to temperature lowering means.

Xavier fished out an instant cold-pack and crushed the capsule inside, starting the endothermic reaction that would make it very cold, very fast. Once it got cold, the reptile held the near-freezing packet up to his neck, and let thermodynamics do its work. It was uncomfortable as hell for Xavier, to forcibly lower his body temperature well below what was best for his species, but it was the only way to get this to work. In a few moments, Anton's face blended into the background of the squads' thermal imaging filters, at which point Sasha gave him the signal to advance.

Xavier had only a limited time. The reptile's chilled blood was flowing slower than it was supposed to in order to work best, literally slowing down his mind and reflexes for the sake of stealth. Luckily he'd trained under these slow-mind conditions, he'd simply need to focus on one task and one task alone: neutralize the thermal monitor, and allow the rest of the squad to follow.

He made it to where the thermal monitor was mounted, and carefully climbed up to reach it. Once up next to the monitor, literally just a camera tuned to infrared frequencies, Xavier produced a small pane of glass and held it in front of the camera lens. The glass would blind the camera to any temperature changes beyond it, and the rest of the squad could move undetected, which they did. Sasha, Gavin and Silas advanced right on through the moment the thermal camera was blinded. Once they were through and out of the thermal monitor's line of sight, Xavier slunk down and joined the squad in the next tunnel, fighting off the cold as best he could. In a moment, Lieutenant Zura handed him an active instant hot-pack, which the reptile thankfully applied to his neck to warm himself back up again.

The squad continued further through another set of utility tunnels again. The end of this tunnel, with a door at the end, would lead to larger subway transit tunnel. A different set of threats and advantages waited there: depending on whether there was a train car present or not, maneuverability could be greatly increased, or hampered, as well as greater opportunities for cover, or for enemy ambush locations.

The door at the end of the passage was locked, so they'd have to breach it, but not until it was determined what was waiting for them on the other side. No way to send the snake under or around the door directly, so other routes would be needed...

Above the door, there was a small grating, used to let air pass between the utility tunnel and subway tunnel on the other side. That was the route the snake could go through.

Sasha gave a number of hand-signal orders: one to have Sgt. Fletcher stand by, another to have Xavier begin work disassembling the grating, and one last one to have Specialist Vance prepare the snake. In mere moments, Xavier had the grating removed, Fletcher was at the ready, and the snake was ready to deploy.

As the snake went through the hole above the door where the grating used to be, Lt. Zura redirected Xavier to prepare breaching the door, and Sgt Fletcher to take point. The method of door breach and the action to take following the breach depended entirely upon the recon from the snake...

Silas soon gave the hand-signal that indicated 'automated turrets' and two of them. The tunnel itself was clear, and there were no booby traps rigged to the door. Still there was one crucial question: were the turrets standalone or networked? To answer that question, Vance retracted the snake, and removed a hand-held EM monitor, which would determine whether the turrets were per-programed and left, or if they were transmitting and receiving data on wireless channels; either case would present different challenges and different opportunities.

In a moment, after consulting his little instrument, Vance confirmed that the turrets were standalone, no transmissions. This meant that it would be impossible to hack and reprogram them wirelessly. Conversely, since they were not sending any data, destroying the turrets would not alert the enemy, so long as it was done quickly.

Lt. Zura directed Xaiver to perform the quickest possible breach, and motioned for Sgt. Fletcher to take point, while Sasha would provide covering fire. The reptile loaded a set of breaching rounds into the shotgun attachment, and took aim, while the avian marine stood ready just behind. Sasha gave hand-signal to execute.

Three shotgun blasts were fired in quick succession at the door's latch, then Xavier rammed his shoulder against the door with all his strength, which gave out under the pressure. The door flapped open, and Sgt. Fletcher was out in the same moment, firing a stream of blaster shots into one turret that was neutralized instantly. Lt. Zura peeked around the corner, firing more or less blindly in the direction of the turrets. The remaining turret made Sasha its target, and fired at the breached door, most shots striking the wall harmlessly, while others grazed past. The avian marine took advantage of the final turret's confusion and blasted it with another stream of shots, destroying it.

The squad lingered only long enough to determine that their presence was still undetected, that the area was secure, then proceeded toward the objective, further through the subway tunnel. According to the area schematics, basement access to the target building would be just about a few hundred meters through the curving tunnel.

Around the last bend though was another disturbing surprise: one of the subway cars had been wrecked in the tunnel, with bits and parts of various sizes scattered all throughout. It was the perfect location to lay explosive booby-traps.

This is where Gavin Fletcher pulled out an old soldiery trick: a can of aerosol string. It was originally meant as a toy, spraying a continuous strand of colorful sticky foam that stuck to most things it touched. However, the aerosol string was light enough that if it struck a tripwire, it would not trigger it, but it would hang suspended and show where the wire was. And sure enough, when Sgt. Fletcher sprayed the tangle of pale pink aerosol string into the debris, there were more than a few places where the string hung in the air instead of hitting the ground.

With the tripwires revealed, Sgt. Fletcher led the squad further through the tunnel around the traps, spraying the aerosol string to determine the safe path. Progress was slow, but relatively safe, so long as their footing remained–

* _Hissss_ *

Gas.

There were two places it was being discharged from, easily visible as sudden cold plumes when the thermal imaging filter was applied.

Almost instantly, Sasha, Anton, Gavin and Silas produced individual injector pens and dosed themselves, plunging the needle through the skin into their bloodstreams. It was a multi-inoculation: several serums combined into one that would counteract almost all lethal or debilitating chemical agents in known use, at least for a short while. Even if the gas was made non-lethal, the serum would by no means guarantee comfort.

After a few moments of more complete exposure, the airborne agent began to feel much more like tear-gas. It may not have been lethal, but the serum didn't treat tear gases, the effects of which might be far worse with the maze of tripwires and explosives–

Lt. Zura's next breath was cut short, interrupted by the need to cough. It was a small cough at first, but the next reflexive breath was stopped by a far more intense and wracking set of coughs, threatening to knock her off balance. Her throat felt like she was sucking down hot coals, and her eyes and nose started to well up with... fluids, desperately trying to douse the flames in her head. Above this sudden agony, she started to feel very, very dizzy...

The next thing Sasha saw was one of the tripwires, only inches in front of her face, below her. She felt herself being suspended, held up by her belt; someone had caught her. Lt. Zura was pulled back to her feet, and found that it was Gavin who'd stopped her fall. The avian marine didn't seem nearly as affected by the gas, probably because he'd grown accustomed to it from his training.

She silently thanked Sgt. Fletcher with a nod, and stood still a moment. Awash in the incessant burning, Sasha worked to remember her own training, when the trainees were all exposed to the tear gas. Shallow slow breaths, careful deliberate movement. Know that the gas won't kill, and let it do what it will to the body.

Don't fight it.

With their bearings as straight as they could be set under the circumstances, the squad continued further through the littered subway tunnel. Their goal, the basement access of the target building, was only a little ways ahead. The temptation to rush ahead and get out away from the gas had to be resisted, as there were still several booby traps between here and there. One false step would be the end of it, and the uneasy feet really felt like taking a false step.

After what felt like far too long, the squad finally made it out of the booby-trapped debris field, and the door to the target was right there. If the gas was deployed here in the tunnel, then it had to be assumed the enemy knew they were coming. No need to proceed quietly then: go in hard and fast.

Her movements were still sluggish and slurred from the effects of the gas, but Sasha gave the hand-signal to the squad to initiate a breach. The door was considered too robust to use simple breaching rounds, so Corporal Xaxier prepared a couple of linear shaped charges, placing them in positions to cut through the door's latch mechanisms. At the same time Sgt. Fletcher took point position near the door, with Sasha and Specialist Vance ready directly behind.

When the charges were set, Xavier backed away from the door along the tunnel wall, waiting for the order. Sasha gave the order, and Xavier triggered the detonator.

With a sudden _Boom _the heavy door was blasted inward off its hinges. Not another instant later, Sgt. Fletcher armed and lobbed a grenade though the newly opened door, which resounded in another heavy _boom. _Before the ringing in the ears ceased, the squad advanced into the room in column Gavin leading, and Sasha Silas and Anton behind.

There was no one on the other side of the door, not even bodies taken out by the grenade. All that was there was an empty room, with a mangled door.

Nothing.

Sasha gave the hand signal for Specialist Vance to run a sweep, to check for any wireless transmission traffic. The primate did so, and in a few seconds had a slightly confused look come over him.

"Um..." he finally said, his voice still cracked and worn from the effects of the gas, "I'll just patch you in, Lieutenant."

in a few moments a distinguished sounding man's voice greeted Sasha through her helmet's earpiece, "Do I have Lieutenant Sasha Zura on the line?"

"Who am I speaking to?" she responded, suspicious.

"This exercise is over, Lieutenant. Stand down." he spoke like one of the senior officer, but she didn't recognize him.

"I'm not sure I understand–"

"It will all be clear in a moment." the authoritative voice cut her off, "Remain at your current location, that is all."

Then the transmission cut itself off.

"Come on!" Gavin spat in frustration as he yanked his helmet off, "We did everything in this crazy simulation right, _everything!_"

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Silas groaned, clutching his stomach. The gas seemed to be affecting him more than others. It might've been due to his slighter build.

"Not on me you're not!" Sgt. Fletcher shot back at the primate, "I don't need _that_ on top of whatever scolding we're getting from the fancy-brass."

"Easy there Gavin." Xavier told him, quite calm and unaffected, "We don't know what this is about–"

"If I had to go through all of those crazy hoop-jumps, and then suck down that... _goddamn_ gas, only to fail be because of something one of _you_ did–"

"That is _enough_ out of you, Sergeant!" Sasha commanded, putting on her stern officer's voice and demeanor.

It could feel a little strange, addressing another soldier like Sgt. Fletcher as his superior, especially when he was older than Sasha by a few years. Still, when given a command position, one had to own it, to be the steadfast and cool-headed example the soldiers were supposed to follow. The men will do their job, as long as the commander above them does theirs.

"Whatever happens, I will take full responsibility for whatever shortcomings there may have been during the sim-run." Sasha reassured, fighting the voice-grating effects of the gas to keep her strong officers demeanor up.

"Personally Lieutenant, I thought you did pretty well." Silas commented, his words still a little slurred from the queasiness.

"As do we." Another voice interrupted, the same voice as that from the communication.

A small group of figures came from behind the squad, from the battered door-frame the squad had blasted through. Judging by their uniforms and rank insignia, most of the newcomers were senior officers: Generals and Colonels. The one who spoke was one of the Generals, a large, broad-shouldered gorilla with a few silver flecks in his otherwise jet black fur.

* _Bang!_ *

The members of the squad nearly jumped, reflexes springing their weapons into firing position, only to find that the noise had come from a bottle of champagne one of the other officers had unstoppered.

Wait, champagne? What the hell for?

"Sorry about that, you all must still be very much on-edge with the mission's adrenaline." the General said with a chuckle. On closer inspection, it was seen that his name tab read 'Silver', but Lt. Zura wasn't familiar with any General Silver...

Sasha, Gavin, Anton and Silas lowered their weapons, more than a little flustered at their actions, and gradually started to remember that several senior officers had just walked into the room. One by one, each of the squad members snapped into attention. Though their bodies were stiff in their drilled in stances, their eyes betrayed confusion, and curiosity.

General Silver gave a deep rumbling chuckle and a little smile at the soldiers' reactions, "At ease."

Almost immediately though, Sasha "Permission to ask the General a question, sir?"

"Yes, granted."

"I don't believe you and I are familiar each other, General sir." Lt. Zura stated in blunt military terminology, "I would ask the General for what occasion he has chosen to surprise us with a visit here, sir."

"Fair enough." the gorilla nodded, and paced through the chamber, "I am General Halfdan Silver, Special Operations. I've come to offer congratulations, for completing this highly demanding simulated subterranean urban assault course, otherwise known as _'the Gauntlet'_, and in record time no less. I've also come to offer a little something more... Lieutenant Zura."

"Sir!" Sasha snapped back into attention at the call of her name.

General Silver retrieved something from a pocket, then held out his hand to the young canid officer in front of him. In his hand were a set of rank insignia pins: those for the rank of Captain.

"What's this, sir?" Sasha asked

"Well, they're yours, _Captain._" the gorilla said with a small smile.

"I..." nearly speechless, Lieutenant Zura, or perhaps Captain Zura, scooped the insignia pins from the General's hand, and just looked at them, "I don't understand. I'm well below the minimum required service time to advance to Captain."

General Silver nodded, understanding, "Perhaps, but you've demonstrated exemplary skill at coordinating small-unit tactics, far above what many of your superiors could have ever done themselves. It's only reasonable that your rank –and more importantly: your _position_– reflect your merit, so that you may be afforded the privileges and responsibilities you deserve."

"My position?" she could not ignore how the General selected those words, and if he was Special Forces, "So that means..."

General Silver nodded, and stepped back to better address the entire squad.

"Sergeant Fletcher, Corporal Xavier, Specialist Vance." Each of them snapped immediately back to attention, and the general continued, "After careful review and evaluation, you have each been selected out of the many fine enlisted soldiers of your current units for the chance, if you so choose, to serve Macbeth as members of her distinguished Special Forces. What say you?"

"Sir! Absolutely, General Sir!" Gavin barked, barely containing his excitement.

"I thought you'd never ask– " the larger reptile stopped himself, remembering the little procedural details of his position, "I mean– yes sir!"

"Yes sir, whatever it takes, sir." Silas answered with grave certainty, or perhaps the effects of the gas were still grinding away at him.

"And you, Sasha Zura?" General Silver returned his attention to the young canid officer, "Will you do these fine men, and all of us, the honor of leading them?"

Sasha looked down at the insignia pins for a few moments, at the tiny metal symbols that represented the far greater challenges and responsibilities set before her. She curled her hand into a fist, and held it up to chest. If the leadership of Special Forces believed she had what it takes to command black ops, who was she to refuse a chance like this?

Sasha looked the General in the eye with a steady, purposeful gaze as she answered, "Yes sir. I will, sir."

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Author Notes:

What's this? Is this a new story? And it's not Legacy? Yes, yest it is. I'm writing this story in collaboration with user "Phoenix Ray". I'm still working on Legacy, very much so, and a few other little side projects too.

Hopefully this initial chapter helped set the tone: a story set shortly before the events of _Star Fox 64, _focusing on a character on the Venom side of the conflict, and a sympathetic character to boot. I'd originally meant there to be more content to this chapter, but it just kept swelling. So I trusted my writer's instinct and sliced it up.

(The Story image is by user "myuinhiding" of deviantart. It was a prize I won in a contest the user hosted, and it does depict principal characters of the story)


	2. Shadows of the Past

_Comments,  
Anonymous former member of Lylat Central Intelligence._

To know the story of Sasha Zura, you have to know at least a little about where she came from, how she got where she is now. For starters, she's Cornerian –yes, _Cornerian–_ but also an officer in Macbeth's Special Forces. It's a bit of a long story, one that starts with her father, Kell Zura, when he was still an officer in the Cornerian military. Like father like daughter I guess, but, not really...

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_**Shadows of the Past  
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/

The smoke of many burning buildings filled the air, turning the sky a sickly black. The screams of the dying and wounded alike echoed through the afternoon. And to one man, it was music to his ears.

Colonel Kell Zura stared out over the tortured, scorched ground that was once the remote jungle village of Azarta, on the planet Fortuna. Most of the town was either burning or destroyed. Most of the town's inhabitants were either dead or dying. Those sparse few citizens that were still alive were being harshly interviewed by a number of his troops. Colonel Zura was somewhat young for an officer of his rank: in his mid-30's. His gray-fur slick with sweat, and blood; some of it his own, some of it his comrades', and some of it the enemies'.

The officer stepped out from the battle-battered dropship he had just landed in, his green camouflage hat waving in the wind. He was clad in similarly colored clothing, with paint-scratched body armor top of it. He normally didn't wear his armor in a situation like this, but he wanted to be careful when dealing with these militants. And sure enough, a few shots rang out as he stepped down, and turned his gaze in the direction they came from.

"Go get that cleaned up, Lieutenant." He spoke gruffly, placing his order to a subordinate behind him, who'd just stepped out of the same _Pegasus_ class dropship. "I don't know what all that's about but this should be over by now."

"Yes sir! Right away sir!" and the junior officer was away.

Kell turned his head back to his objective as he made his way past mangled bodies and deep holes. These holes where the result of the first aerodynes strike that had torn up the earth with their weapons. All around him was the hustle and bustle of men, his hand-picked soldiers of 1st Company, doing as they were ordered.

Cleaning up the mess.

As he proceeded forward, his path was interrupted by one of the surviving civilians breaking forward from her captors and racing for the colonel with a desperate sob. One of the soldiers yelled for the young cat to stop but she paid no heed to his order. Several soldiers raised their weapons but held their fire; she was too close to their commander. Kell was not bothered by this action at all only turning in the black furred cat's direction and pulling his sidearm then pointing it in her face. The young girl stopped and got on her knees.

"Please….my mouth is so dry. The smoke…I can hardly breathe!" She ragged out in a raspy voice.

Kell realized that the young cat girl's fur wasn't black, but white as the back half was her normal white color but the smoke and fire had turned her front half black. The girl's parents screamed and cried in the distance, and begged for their daughter to return. But their fears appeared unfounded as the husky holstered his sidearm and pulled out his canteen.

"For the love of– you couldn't spare a fucking sip of water?" The young cat took the metal canteen and greedily drank from it, some of the water pouring out of her mouth as she did so.

Kell laughed at the girls thirst. "Easy there, drink slowly. You may have soot in your throat and that may make you sick." He smiled disarmingly and was about to offer a paw to her before a voice called out from his headset tucked in his ear.

"Colonel Kell, the objective targets have been dealt with. Awaiting your confirmation."

Kell looked uo, turned in the direction the objective. Before he departed, he went to a nearby soldier and shoved the canteen in his hand, "Take care of her, will ya?" he said, indicating the soot-blackened girl.

The commander set off towards what he had come here for. All around him bodies were being gathered up for disposal and fires put out, what resistance there was had crumbled quickly under the assault. He soon came to a group of soldiers standing over a line of bodies, who quickly came to attention when Kell neared. He gave a quick nod and salute then reached into his chest pocket and pulled out a PDA.

"Let's see here..."

The husky looked down at the row of bodies; they lay next to each other almost identically, having been shot in the back of the head execution style. He knelt down to each body, opening their eyes and scanning their retinas with his PDA, not at all bothered with this grisly task. After scanning the final set of eyes, he looked over his device one final time and gave a nod to his men.

"Yup, that's the lot of them. Good work guys, that's the group we were after. Bunch of fucking drug-smugglers and arms dealers this lot. Most of them Fortunan, some Zonessian. Either way, doesn't matter. That's how you get the job done boys."

He reached over at patted one of the soldiers on the shoulder, who smiled at his commander. "The drinks are on me tonight guys. Good work, you've made this planet a hell of a lot safer as well as keeping this shit off the streets back home. Let's pack it up and get out here."

"Yes sir!" They said as one and did as they were told, reporting to their CO's with a sense of accomplishment.

Colonel Kell had a reputation as a hard-ass, but his men loved him for his dedication and tenacity. And he returned that dedication to them. The commander gazed around him with hands on his hips as the last of the blaster fire died out. It wasn't quite silent, but there was an almost zen-like feeling to the battleground at that moment. Kell stood at the top of a hill and looked at the burned remains of the town. At the edge of his vision the last of the survivors were being rounded up, their hands on their heads. All around the husk of what had once been a poor but lively neighborhood was his virtual fleet of aerodynes and armored vehicles that had reduced the town to ash. He had over 50 small _Wasp_ class attack aerodynes along with the 3 larger _Basilisk _class heavy armored attack craft that were present. Along with the bevy of transports and dropships to carry his ground troops and he had come with quite a formidable force.

The drug lords and black market cartels in this area had evaded, and in many cases fought with, the local authorities. In response, the local authorities asked for backup. Their backup came in the form of Colonel Kell Zura and a healthy contingent of 1st Company, doing what they do best, sending a message,

"I don't see how I can be clearer than this: Don't fuck with us." He muttered under his breath.

"Sorry sir?" One of the guards that watched over the commander spoke up.

"Nothing soldier."

Kell looked up at the smoked filled sky and breathed in. The ash of the smoking town filled his lungs and he coughed violently. His two guards looked at each other questioningly. But they had no need to say anything, as the coughing subsided and their commander gave a deep sigh.

"Let's get out of here."

\

* * *

_As soon as men decide that all means are permitted to fight an evil, then their good becomes indistinguishable from the evil that they set out to destroy._

* * *

/

_6 weeks later_

"Today on Lylat Exposed! Massacre on Fortuna revealed! Local CDF Commander goes psyc–"

"Our thoughts and prayers to the people of Fortuna tonight–"

"How can Corneria let this stand? Apparently our own commanders are out butchering people in the streets–"

Sasha Zura sighed as she turned the vid-screen off. Even non news channels were buzzing with stories about her father. The young husky sat in the kitchen of her family modest home in Corneria City. She placed her head in her paws and ran them through her braided hair, her long high-top pony tail sticking out in the air. She stared at the ground, deep in thought. Surely the stories weren't true?

She knew something was wrong when her father was called home early, he wasn't supposed to be on leave for another month.

She raised her head out of her paws and looked over at the kitchen counter where a group of photo's stood. There was one in particular that caught her eye. It was the image of Sasha with her father and mother out shooting in the Cornerian countryside. Those was a time when she knew what her father was about, then he was promoted and given a command, everything changed after that. He was harder to get a hold of, and he was often off planet so often, for so long. She loved her father, but she wasn't as close to him as she had once been.

The young husky was shaken from her thoughts when the front door opened and her mother stepped through. Tess Zura walked slowly through the living room and into the kitchen, not even looking at her daughter as she took her coat off and dropped in on a chair. With a blank, glazed look in her eyes, she opened the refrigerator and took out an alcoholic tropical drink, then and sat down opposite Sasha. After a long moment's silence she finally looked at her daughter, and spoke in a quivering voice.

"Are you okay, Sasha?"

"No. What's going on?" Sasha raised her paws in confusion and frustration, "I was pulled out of class today and told to go home. And I come home to... _that!_" She pointed at the vid screen in the corner of the kitchen.

Tess swallowed hard, and took a small sip of her drink before responding. "Baby... your father is about to lose his job. And I may too."

"But why?!"

Sasha's mother played with her paws for a moment as she sought the right words to say it, but found only poor words, "Your father made a mistake. People are very angry that he did."

"Yeah no kidding! People were giving me weird looks all day."

"Listen Sasha, your father will be home very soon. I spoke with him on the way home and he said to pack your things. We are moving tomorrow."

"You're not serious, are you." Sasha asked, worry growing even more-so in her nows.

"I'm dead serious." Tess replied, "This is not a time for jokes."

Sasha simply stared at her mother for a few moments, before placing her head in her paws again. She couldn't believe it! All her friends she'd made, and good grades she had gotten in school were about to be worthless! She had lost it all!

Tess stood up and pulled her daughter close, cupping her head in her arms, "I'm sorry baby. It will be okay. I promise."

The front door opened again, and this time Sasha didn't look up. Tess did and nodded at the approaching individual. Heavy boots hit the floor as the figure got closer, and sat down at the kitchen table. After a few moments of silence, Sasha pushed her mother away and looked up. Her father sat in his dress uniform, looking very stressed, and tired. He looked over at his daughter who only returned his glance with a look of anger and confusion. Kell looked to his wife and motioned for her to leave. Tess placed a kiss to Sasha's forehead and did as he ordered, the step of her heels on the tile fading away.

For a little while, not a word was said, father and daughter simply stared at each other, silently. Finally Kell cleared his throat and looked his daughter in the eye.

"I love you little Sasha. You know that?" he said, his voice weary, and rough.

"... I know." the young husky replied, looking away.

Kell leaned forward and clasped his paws together, "Sasha listen to me. Regardless of what people have told you or what you have heard, I only did what was right for Corneria. I did what I had to do to accomplish what I had been ordered, nothing more."

Kell looked up at the ceiling for a moment, holding back a sigh, before returning his gaze to his daughter, "It seems that my commanding officers don't see it that way, or the government."

Sasha stared back at her father with a blank expression, tears welling up. She looked as if she might cry. Seeing this, Kell stood up and went to hug his daughter close, "I love you darling. It's going to be okay–"

"Where... where are we moving?" Sasha managed to choke out.

"I'm hoping to get us to Macbeth, but I need to do some thing's first. Take some time to say goodbye to your friends, and then pack your things. We're leaving in the morning."

They held their embrace for several more moments until Sasha removed herself from her father's grasp and left the kitchen, heading upstairs to call her friends, not looking back. Kell stood where he was as his wife came back into the kitchen and hugged him. He leaned down and kissed her in response.

"By Lyla Kell, what have you done?" Tess asked, he voice wavering.

They held their embrace for a few quiet moments, interrupted only when Kell's PDA rang. The older husky broke from his wife's touch and looked his device over, his face lighting up with surprise, "I need to take this."

"Who is it?"

Kell gave a hopeful glance back at his wife before answering, "Someone who I think can help us."

Upstairs, Sasha was busy packing her things into a set of cases and boxes, tears in her eyes as she went about her task. It took her several minutes to finish, but once she was, she sat down on her bed with a defiant huff. She wiped the tears from her eyes and gathered herself, not wanting to appear shaken to her parents. She then stood up and started walking back down the stairs that lead to her room. As she neared the bottom, she slowed her step as she heard her father's voice speaking in an excited tone. In fact, he almost sounded... happy? Curious, she quietly leaned her head around the corner of the staircase to listen in.

"... I understand. Yes, we can make the move within the next few days. I appreciate the opportunity for this sir. I really do."

Sasha got a look at his face: the weariness seemed to wash off a little, and he had a almost a smile. He seemed quite relieved as he continued with his call, "Yes, I can do that. I've never had much experience with this kind of work, but I'm sure I can get the many of my men and NCO's to come around... Okay. Thank you. Goodbye."

Kell looked back at his wife, and forced on a grin, "I think I can get us out of this hole."

"Oh?"

"Well, you might not like it much but I can bring in more than enough money to keep –maybe even improve– our lifestyle."

Tess rubbed her chin in thought. "Well, we need the money to keep this family afloat, so I guess I can't be too picky. But why wouldn't I like it?"

"Because the job is on Venom, for the big new terraforming project they're working on out there."

"You're not serious..."

"I am. That was Mr. Andross himself calling."

Tess seemed to be taken aback and spoke in a whisper, "Andross? What does he want with you?"

From her hiding spot, Sasha heard everything. She pondered over her parents words, why were they so excited over this Andross person? From the sound of it he seemed to be an important person but Sasha had not paid much attention to those things lately, though the name did seem familiar somehow. Wasn't he some scientist guy?

\

* * *

/

_Comments,  
Anonymous former member of Lylat Central Intelligence. _

Sasha's father was discharged from Cornerian military service for his controversial actions on Fortuna, then he and his family relocated to Macbeth shortly thereafter. That's when Kell began to work for Andross as a major contractor, with several other soldiers that had been under his command when he was apart of th Cornerian military. Kell Zura was simply one of many military men Andross had quietly scooped up in the years prior to the great schism before the war.

The government of Macbeth even granted the Zura family full citizenship. Sasha was able to enroll in the Macbeth education system with no problems, at least on the official end. There were other... social complications for her after the move, some of which may have influenced her decision to go into military service.

After their move to Macbeth, the Zura family lived in the capitol city of Wayland, in one of the nicer condominium complexes. Kell lived his family life much the same as it was on Corneria: long deployments away, with some leave time at home.

Sasha Zura became somewhat socially isolated after the the move to Macbeth. She kept in contact with only a tiny few back on Corneria, and even then it was infrequent. Sasha did her best to integrate into the school, but it was difficult, since she easily stood out. For starters, the canid species, while present, were not nearly as common on Macbeth as they were on Corneria where canids were practically ubiquitous. What was far more telling though was language: everyone on Macbeth still spoke Lylatin, but it was... different. Macbeth Lylatin and Cornerian Lylatin used different terms for some words, with vastly different inflections and accents on shared words. It was tricky enough to figure out the nuances and differences just on Corneria alone, but Macbeth had even more, and it was incredibly obvious to everyone that Sasha was not one of them.

For these reasons, at least partly, the people she went to school with in Wayland weren't exactly outgoing to make a friend of Sasha Zura. At best, she was little more than an intriguing curiosity to her Macbeth native peers: the interesting new Cornerian. At worst, she was untrusted, made fun of, and subject to bigotry: the ignorant Cornerian bitch.

For the most-part though, she was simply left alone by her school peers, and she kept to herself. That all changed with Maya.

\

* * *

_/_

It was another lab day for the Applied Physics class at the Dawson Secondary School. The class had been covering electricity and circuits for a while, so it made sense that the lab would cover another electrical subject. The tables in the classroom and were set up with a number of basic electric circuit components, and the students divided into pairs. The instructor, a portly but cheerful brown bear, stood behind the central table and began his demonstration...

"Alright then, we've got a power supply, giving us an alternating electric current, and we've got something for that current to work on: a simple filament light bulb in this case." the bear held up a very small flashlight bulb, placed into a socket with terminals, "It should be easy enough to get the bulb to light up, right? All we have to do is take the the positive and negative leads of the power supply, connect them up with the terminals for the bulb..."

He took the two wires coming from the power supply, and touched the exposed ends to the terminals. The little bulb lit up very bright for an instant, than winked out.

"Hmm, well that didn't work quite right..." the instructor said, scratching his head in mock-confusion, "What do you think happened?" he asked to the class.

"It burned out." one of the students drawled out in a dull tone.

"Yes, but _why _did it burn out?"

"Too much power." another student blurted.

"Could you be more specific please?"

"The electric current was too strong, too high a voltage."

"And you're absolutely right." the bear said with a nod, then continued, "As you know, the metal filament of an incandescent light bulb produces light when it heats up with a current passing through it, the heat being a result of the material's resistance to the electric current. However, this tiny filament can only handle so strong of a current passing through it before it melts, or in this case, vaporizes entirely. How we solve this problem will be the subject of today's lab..."

He stepped behind his table, pointing out apparatuses as he named them.

"In front of you, you all have similar filament light bulbs, wiring materials, and power supplies that are set to produce a 100 Volt alternating current, far above what the bulbs are rated for. For today's lab, using a combination of transformers and resistors, you will all be constructing circuits with your filament bulbs and 100 Volt sources that will produce light, and also won't destroy the bulb in the process..."

"Now, everybody off to work." the instructor announced, "If anyone has questions, I'll be happy to answer them."

The class came to life with the hubbub of activity. Students gathered supplies, made observations about the assignment, rummaged for textbooks, cracked jokes with each other, made other conversation.

Sasha Zura had been paired up with a feline girl she'd seen, but hadn't spoken with before. She had a velvety black fur tone with small white highlights. The wore a subdued but tasteful pink t-shirt, formfitting that accentuated her appealing physique...

"You're the new girl from Corneria, right?" the feline girl stated, but more like a question, "Sasha's the name?"

"Yup, that's me." Sasha replied flatly.

"I'm Maya, Maya Kaido. I'm here from Macbeth, though my folks were originally from Zoness if you wanted to get picky."

"I don't think I need to get picky, but thanks."

The two gathered the supplies for their lab assignment and started working, all the while Sasha made quiet internal note of Maya. She didn't yet know if Maya's upbeat demeanor was entirely natural to her, of if she was just putting on a happy facade to be polite. Whatever the case, the air of delight seemed to just bubble from Maya Kaido without any effort whatsoever.

"So Sasha, what brought you to Macbeth?" Maya asked as they worked. She seemed sincere enough, or at least sociable.

"My dad's work." Sasha answered, really not wanting to go into details. All of Corneria might know the infamous name 'Kell Zura', but Macbeth was thankfully absent of his name, "He's doing some stuff for the Venom project, so we all moved here with him."

"Ohhh, sounds exciting." Maya replied, continuing her small talk, "How do you like it here so far?"

"It's okay, I guess." Sasha said with a shrug.

"Aw, only okay?" Maya asked, with a tone of friendly concern.

"The move was kinda tough on me, and I haven't really been able to connect with anyone yet." The teenage husky explained.

"Well, we're just going to have to go ahead and fix that, aren't we Sasha?" the feline said with a smile, "We can start with this lab: what kind of wattage is our little bulb rated at?"

Sasha picked up the small incandescent bulb, barely the size of her finger, and checked for the little numbers for its rating, "Not much, just three..."

The lab progressed fairly smoothly between them. Sometimes a few of the more specific numbers eluded them, but they helped each other out when those moments came. The lab wasn't especially challenging, but a few wrong numbers, or an inverted transformer, and the bulb might even shatter under.

Sasha found herself glancing up from time to time, looking at Maya, thinking thoughts about her. She seemed like such a nice, caring person; the way she acted, was concerned for Sasha's loneliness. It which was such a refreshing change from the disinterest, or outright distrust she'd come to expect from here others on Macbeth. These thoughts sparked a hopeful little flame in Sasha, and somehow warmed her up a little inside. It felt... good.

The dark furred cat carried herself with a kind of grace that Sasha couldn't help but admire; a natural fluidity in her movements. The ease with which she shift weight from one hip to the other, and her supple white-tipped tail would glide behind her. It made her seem so... alive.

But there was also a kind of anxiousness about Maya, a sort of tantalized, longing look. She'd frequently look up from what she was working on, and gaze across the classroom with those wanting, golden eyes of hers. Sometimes there'd be a little sigh, and her shapely chest would lift up with her breath–

Maya glanced to her side, and noticed how Sasha was staring back at her, "Hmm? You were... looking at me?"

A wave of goosebumps quickly washed over the husky. Had she really been having those thoughts? About her?

"Yes, I mean, I just noticed how you were kinda..." what to say, what to say, what to say, "well... staring across the room with the dreamy-eyes." please... please please please be good enough.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Maya said with a little start, fumbling in her flustered state, "I should really be helping you out with the lab..."

Sasha and Maya went back work, wiring the electrical components together, having determined what orientation the circuit should hold. Each of them worked to ignore the longing stares they had made, Sasha at Maya, and Maya at... Actually, it wasn't all that clear who the feline was gazing at, if anyone.

"Who exactly _were_ you looking at, anyway?" Sasha asked. She looked up from the work, and found Maya looking embarrassed again. "Oh come on, I'm curious. You can tell me, I won't judge." Sasha insisted.

A few awkward silent moments passed, and the feline finally let out a little sigh and quietly confessed, "Daren... Daren Vasko" the name rolled gently off her tongue, made her swoon as she said it.

Sasha looked across the classroom, and saw the guy. He was the rugged looking feline, with smoldering reddish fur. He looked like he was focused completely on the lab, staring down at one of the transformers with determined eyes, under a furrowed brow.

"It's..." Maya began, but then focused down back to the not-quite-finished collection of components on their table, "We should get back to work–"

"Do you like him?" Sasha pressed, moving closer alongside the feline while they put the circuit together.

Maya was still a little flustered, but talking about Daren seemed to get her excited. She also seemed lively and lovely again, and beautiful...

"Well, he's cute, and he seems like a really neat guy, and..." the feline let out a little giggle, and dropped her voice down to whisper, "Who _wouldn't _want to have a closer look at that nice ass of his?"

"If you've got all those feelings, why not go and talk to him?" Sasha suggested.

"Oh, no! I couldn't do that!" Maya protested, becoming even more flustered and embarrassed, "It might weird him out if I just go right up to him that way. I wouldn't want to seem like I'm desperate, or obsessed, like I'm some kind of creepy stalker or something."

Sasha could see her point. If Maya got as flustered as this about a crush, she might well turn into a blubbering pile of awkward if she went right up to the object of her affection. That, and it kind of was kind of the guy's unspoken prerogative to take the initiative here. The Daren fellow however seemed completely oblivious to Maya's distant hungry gazes...

An idea occurred to Sasha, and she shared it with Maya, "What if I talked to him for you first?"

The dark furred feline seemed to light right up, almost bursting with a sudden happiness, "You'd do that? For me?!"

"Sure." Sasha said, giving a little smile.

"Omygod! Thank you!" Maya squealed quietly in absolute delight. In the excitement of the moment, she grabbed Sasha's arm and held her very close, so happy at the prospect of meeting her crush.

At the sudden contact, Sasha felt only a huge avalanche of emotions cascade over her. For one, there was a sudden happiness that mirrored Maya's own. On a little more subdued note, there was also a twinge of disappointment that Maya's affections were focused on this Daren figure.

But then there was a confusion, and maybe even a fear. Should she be having these kind of feelings for Maya at all? These longing, wishful, even lustful thoughts that crept into her mind seemed very much like the feelings Maya was having for Daren, but Maya was a girl... Did this mean Sasha was lesbian?

She couldn't think about that, couldn't risk bringing it out in the open, not now anyway. Maya was the very first person since the move that could maybe be a friend to her, a friend Sasha could really use right now. Maybe this was just a one-off thing, from having been alone for a while. No one had to know about these feelings.

These thoughts preoccupied Sasha Zura as she and Maya finished the lab together. Sasha was so very relieved that her new feline friend was distracted at the moment by Daren, or she might've noticed how the husky was clearly discomforted by the flurry of emotions in her mind...

At the end of the lab, as everyone in the classroom packed up their things and headed out, was when Sasha made the move for Daren. It was simple enough to pick her way through the busy flow of bodies, all working to exit the classroom. And fortunately enough the reddish feline wasn't attached to a group of friends at the moment: just alone...

"Daren?" the husky called out, as the crowd began to thin.

"Hm?" He stopped, and turned to see who called his name, "You're uh... Sasha, right?"

"Yep: the Cornerian." Sasha said with a nod, "Anyway, I know someone who's been absolutely _dying_ to meet you. She's so shy though, and she doesn't want to make a big awkward scene in front of you."

"She's not you, is she?" Daren asked, half joking.

"Heh, no. It's Maya, my lab partner." Sasha said with a little laugh, "She's been making the googly-eyes at you all period, and longer too I think."

"Really? Maya?" the reddish feline repeated, looking and sounding astonished, "I could've sworn she was with someone else."

"I don't know the story behind that, but she's made it pretty clear that she likes you, a lot..." maybe that was a little blunt. Realizing that, Sasha added, "She's such a sweetheart, and I think you'd like her too."

"Huh..." Daren took a few moments, furrowing that thinking brow of his again, as he considered the prospect until finally, "Well, who am I to disappoint a pretty thing like her? Thanks for the heads up."

And the reddish feline made his way past the young husky to where Maya was waiting...

"You're welcome..." Sasha replied, weakly. She wasn't even sure if Daren heard her or not, not that she cared much either way.

Slowly, she turned around to see her handiwork. In the distance, she saw Maya's face light up as the reddish feline that was her crush approached, and she had a wonderful look of excitement. Daren at least seemed curious, and their conversation began. Any terror or fear that was in Maya before was quickly fading away, and Daren's curiosity just as quickly became genuine interest.

On the one hand, Sasha was thrilled: she had all but secured a good friend, after a long period of loneliness. She was glad that those times were over now, hopefully. On the other hand, Sasha was quietly terrified: she didn't know what to do with those lustful thoughts and longing feelings, _for a girl_. In time, maybe she could figure something out, but not now, not while she was still so perilously close to being alone.

She couldn't risk being made an outcast all over again.

\

* * *

/

Author Notes:

Well hey! that was a pretty quick turnaround, wasn't it?

Thing is, about half of this chapter's content was originally written by Phoenix Ray, a while ago (1st half). I went through and did a little editing, but the first part is almost entirely Ray's material. Hopefully the classroom scene worked. It's been a while since I personally fiddled with circuits like that, and I hope that played out.

Also, this is the very first time I've written any kind of homosexual romance/attraction type thing, ever. Hopefully it played out well, and you liked how it worked here. If you didn't, I'd actually really appreciate it, a lot, if you went ahead and told me so. This is new and uncharted territory for my writing, and any feedback you can give is very much welcome.

Catch you all later!


	3. Far Too Long

_Comments,  
Anonymous former member of Lylat Central Intelligence. _

In those years leading up to the war, there were _huge_ elements of showmanship devoted to the presentation of one's military. The governments had two major motivations to act that way: 1) they wanted to reassure their citizens that their armed forces were prepared and ready if things escalated, that they had the means to fight and defend themselves effectively. 2) they wanted to show off their military prowess to foreign powers to deter major aggression, by showing everyone how big and hard their stick is. In it's crudest sense, it really was a kind of system-wide military-governmental dick waving contest on a monumental scale.

This was simply the fact of the day Every major government was doing it, and some still do.

There were lavish parades, with huge blocks of infantry and the most advanced ground vehicles of the day. There were spectacular air shows displaying the latest in aerospace engineering tech. There were large-scale naval exercises –space and sea both– flaunting the fleets for all to see. Anything at all, if used to promote military-patriotic pride, was done. Even an event as routine as officer promotion became spectacle of pomp and circumstance.

\

* * *

_**Far Too Long**_

* * *

/

The crowds made Sasha nervous, mostly because they were tactically unsound on so very many levels. A few bursts of automatic weapons-fire or an explosive could tear through the gathered mass all too easily. A chemical-biological weapon would be even more deadly. Even more troubling was the ease of concealing a hostile unconventional combatants in a crowd, disguising themselves similarly to the surrounding civilians, and hiding any number of armaments there; anything that could be hidden in a throng like the one gathered now.

The flashy impractical dress uniform didn't help these back-of-the-mind nervous thoughts much either. She had no weapon, no active communication, no utilities of any kind. The fabric didn't breathe, felt fragile, and Sasha's feet began to become sore in these infernal dress-shoes. She may as well have been standing naked.

She couldn't help it though. On the surface she may have been cool and collected, but always in the back of her mind, the ever-active soldier's instinct would analyze the area she was in, assess the situation, make snap judgments.

"Captain" Sasha Zura, along with around a dozen other sharply dressed young military officers, stood in a single shoulder-to-shoulder line. They were gathered on the field of the main athletic stadium for Easthold, the premiere military academy of Macbeth, where much of the planets finest officers were trained. The whole scene reminded Sasha of her graduation from Easthold, barely a year earlier. There were media cameras all around, recorders and reporters covering the event, just like the graduation. There were far more people then, both on the field for their ceremony, and in the stands watching or gathered around.

Most of those watching right now were current students of Easthold, seeing firsthand an example of what the many hopeful cadets could someday become with hard work and distinguished service. Others looking on were relatives or close friends of the officers, whoever they've chosen to invite. Sasha's parents weren't among them though. Dad was on an assignment with the Venom project, he'd probably watch it later and send his congratulations in a dryly worded message. Mom was probably watching a video feed of the event from somewhere else, quietly proud of her daughter, but quietly nervous for her too. She'd always hoped her little girl would do something less dangerous, find a nice guy to settle down with, give her some grandchildren to spoil...

Sasha sort of dashed those hopes when she committed to the school's junior officer training program, and then going on to Easthold later. Not that she'd had any serious relationship with guys in the first place, nor any major desires for such a relationship...

Well, that last part wasn't quite right. After she met Maya those years ago, and after some time had passed to think more about it, Sasha had come to accept that she may be lesbian. She hadn't told her parents about it though. It wasn't worth telling Dad, since he's away for so long and home for so little. Mom was already worried enough for Sasha for going into military service, adding "my daughter is a lesbian" to her worries wouldn't help her at all. She hadn't told Maya, not yet anyway. She's been perfectly happy with being straight, being 'normal', having gone through many boyfriends in the years they'd known each other. Sasha didn't want to compromise this precious friendship by tossing her closeted lesbianism into it, and was content to be the level-headed supportive friend she'd been to her.

Speaking of Maya, she ought to be among the spectators, somewhere. The feline woman had gone into sales in the years after her schooling. Being the ever-outgoing, cheerful, personable bubble of a lady she was (not to mention amazingly attractive), Maya Kaido was an absolute natural salesperson. She fit into her position selling high-end clothing and fashion items at store in downtown Wayland like a fine-tailored silk glove.

That's all Sasha could do for a time, standing there on the field at attention, motionless, confined, helpless even. Thinking of other times and other people at least occupied her mind, distracted her paranoid inner-soldier from the immediate circumstances. There were speeches given, boisterous anthems played by a band, but this superfluous pomp and circumstance carried little meaning for her. All of it felt woefully impractical and completely unnecessary...

She just wanted it to be over and done with...

After a time, it did finally end, and it couldn't have been soon enough for Sasha. There was a little reception after the ceremony, held on one end of the stadium's field with a tent, and some refreshments. It was a place where the cadets and young officers could mingle and socialize in a more casual environment. It wasn't much better for her nerves, but at least Sasha could move about, actively assess the situation and act, instead of standing still in the middle of the field, like a shooting-range target. The one good thing in all this that made in all bearable though was Maya, and she'd be among the reception for sure. She wouldn't pass up the opportunity mingle amidst all these new people, to playfully tease and flirt with these uptight military types. Maya could always get a little rise out of cracking the stoic ice of soldier types, getting them to loosen up. It was like a fun little game she liked to play at social occasions. Though she had to admit, Maya had that very same effect on Sasha herself: to loosen her nerves, to get her to relax from all that military rigidness. Whenever Sasha Zura was with Maya, the paranoid inner-soldier –the little voice in the back of her mind that _always_ thought in terms of tactical assessments– would shut up, and Sasha could genuinely relax, have a good time. Maya probably felt it was a close friendship thing, and it certainly was. Yet for Sasha, it was also something far deeper than that...

The husky combed her through the many bright-uniformed people of the reception party, politely but tersely greeting them while she scanned for Maya. The dark feline would no doubt be wearing an elegant, tasteful dress, but also with a hit of alluring risqué, as were her usual ways. She should've been more than easy to pick out of the crowd, being the kind to coyly maneuver herself into the center of attention at social gatherings like this. However, scan as she will, Sasha couldn't find any trace of Maya Kaido, anywhere.

Something was wrong. Sasha had invited her, and Maya said she'd come, but she wasn't here. She hadn't even called or left a message to notify Sasha, as she always has done if something unexpected got to her. This had to be something else entirely. Was she hurt, in distress, in some kind of danger?

Sasha's nerves started acting up again, and she began to feel her heartbeat pick up the pace. The husky had already been on-edge from, mainly from being in a place that the inner-soldier vehemently opposed, but the sudden pang of worry for Maya nearly got the better of her.

It was bad enough that one of the guests, some lizard officer Sasha hadn't ever met before, actually came up to her and asked, "are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine, thanks." Sasha lied, glancing away.

She didn't care that the lizard officer clearly wasn't buying it. Sasha just needed to get away from the crowd, away from all these people, and hopefully get to the bottom of the Maya mystery.

Sasha Zura excused herself from the social festivities on the field, and made her way to the ladies' bathroom in the stadium building nearby. A large enough majority of men were at the gethering here, being a military function, that there shouldn't be many interruptions in the ladies room. It'd bee a good secluded place for Sasha to regain her nerves, and to try to contact Maya, see what's what.

The worried husky entered the ladies' bathroom, a reasonable enough space, but not exactly remarkable as bathrooms go. Sasha preferred being here though, as did her constantly nagging "inner-soldier". Tactically, bathrooms were excellent places for close-quarters combat, even while completely unarmed. The small confines and multitude of hard surfaces meant that dispatching an enemy was just a simple matter of maneuvering their head or joint into a sink, counter-top, wall, floor, pipe or even toilet. All of these would cause plenty of injury to the enemy, and little for Sasha.

With her nerves quieted somewhat, Sasha pulled out her personal comm and gave Maya a call. Hopefully she was alright.

As Sasha's comm sent its signal though, another comm went off at exactly the same time, inside this very bathroom. What's more, Sasha recognized the comm's ringtone, as it was the very same ringtone that Maya used. She froze, partly relieved, partly even more worried. Maya was here, or at least her comm was, but that still didn't explain everything else. The husky's heart-rate skyrocketed, pummeling against her chest, faster and harder.

For a while, Sasha did nothing, and simply let the little digital chime play out, echoing through the bathroom against the restless drumbeat in her chest. The husky started walking, slowly, until she came to the stall where the comm's ring was coming from. That's when she canceled the call she'd tried to make, and plunged the bathroom into the tensest silence.

Sasha finally broke this unbearable quietness when, in a weak and worried voice, she simply said, "Maya?"

All she got in response from the closed stall was a sudden sniff. Was she crying? Why?

"Maya, what's wrong?" the husky asked, now far more concerned for her.

"I..." Maya started, her voice tortured by some torrent of terrible emotion, "Shit... I'm sorry, Sasha. You don't need this from me."

"Maya, what happened?" Sasha asked her, a touch of desperation pulling at her words, "Come out of there and tell me about it, _please._ Let me help."

There was another sniff, and a stuttering sigh, and a few little moments before the stall door opened.

Maya was a miserable wreck. There were streaks on her face where the tears had run down from her eyes, through the fur of her face. She stood slouched, using the bathroom stall for support, instead of standing tall like she normally did. Maya's breath came in stuttering, shaky gasps on the verge of being sobs. Perhaps they were sobs before...

"Oh no..." Sasha said quietly as she took the feline's quivering hand in her steady grasp, and then wrapped another hand around her waist as she led Maya out of the stall to the center of the bathroom, "What did this to you?"

"It's so _stupid... _I feel really dumb and juvenile for letting it get to me like it has..." Maya's babbling broke into a flash of anger as she cursed, "Dammit, I'm _better _than this!"

"It's okay, Maya." Sasha told her gently, letting the feline rest her heavy head on her shoulder.

"It's Evan..." Maya confessed, with a sting of bitterness. Evan was the name of her current boyfriend, "We were going to come to this ceremony thing together, we made the arrangements a few days earlier. I got all pampered up in something nice... Then I show up here, only to see that Evan's already walking into the place, with his hand groping the ass of some... _whore _that I've never seen before."

"Oh?" This was... odd, for Maya at least. She'd always been aloof and relatively carefree in her relationships. It was peculiar that Maya would succumb to jealousy now, especially considering how adventurous her love life had been before.

"I couldn't go in after that." Maya continued, letting it all flow out of her, "I couldn't stand to see his smug fucking face, smiling, getting tongue from that skanky bitch. I would've gouged their eyes out given the chance, or broken down into a miserable puddle of... well, _look_ at me! I'm a fucking _wreck!_"

"No, it's alright Maya. I get it." Sahsa held the feline's head close, "You came in here to be alone, to have a moment."

"I don't usually take these things so hard, you know that Sash. It's just..." she stopped a moment, and had this distant, pained look about her, "I thought Evan and I had something special. I thought this would be _different._"

"What do you mean?" the young husky woman asked, curious, as this was definitely something new for Maya.

"I had a good run, Sasha. I played the flirty sexy game of society, and I had fun doing it, but I'm fucking _tired_ of it now." Maya's words became embittered, pained, full of unfulfilled longing, "I'm tired of every guy I meet treating me like I'm some dumb _bitch_ they can just fuck around with. I'm tired of having to _act_ the part of 'dumb bitch' just to get attention of even _dumber_ assholes. The whole flirtatious charade is so fucking shallow and superficial! I just... I want something... _important. _I want to be able to _love, _completely and utterly, and to _be _loved like that in return..." The dark feline wrapped her arms around Sasha in a tight embrace, and added quietly, "I don't want just another meaningless fling."

A sudden rush of emotions swept over Sasha when Maya embraced her like that. It all just blasted through, like an explosion, but an explosion of crazy vibrant butterflies. There was fear in the mix, a kind of desperate confusion about what to do next, but this fear was simply a snap-reaction to a flurry of other feelings. It was a kind of happiness, of relief, but also much more than mere happiness. It was a rushing wash of unexpected, desperate desire to be close to Maya, to touch her, to feel her, to be on-and-the-same with her, to hear the feline's heartbeat match and combine with her own...

"I understand, Maya." she managed to respond, barely, fighting to control her voice against the torrent of opposed feelings, "I understand more than you know..." Then Sasha's hands seemed to be reacting to the desire on their own, bypassing her mind and its fearful confusion entirely. The husky found her hands were caressing down Maya's back, feeling all the curves and contours. It wasn't until the hands came to her hips that Sasha caught control of them, but they –she– wanted to keep going, to keep exploring every single inch of Maya Kaido there was...

"Thank you Sasha. Thank you so much, for being here, for putting up with all my stupid shit..." the dark feline looked up at Sasha, showing the return of a smile that had been so sorely missed, "You're a good friend –an _amazing _friend– the only person I've _ever _known who's been so unfailingly true to me, and I like that."

Seeing those happy eyes and smiling face face again– hearing those words, so warmly inflected by her voice– there was a reaction in Sasha, a _real_ physical reaction. Her chest felt like it had just tightened up like a compressed spring. A flame had also ignited down between her legs. It was a good flame though, a warm, comforting glow like from a fireplace, but also a mighty blaze that felt like it could drive the strongest steam engines, and still have plenty more to burn.

All of this –all of the utter craziness that was erupting inside stoic and steady Captain Sasha Zura– was because of and for Maya. But, beneath that bizarre maelstrom of fear happiness and desire came something else: a kind of confidence, a sense that this was absolutely right...

"Maya, there's... something..." the fear in Sasha was stripped away, the happiness was tempered, and the desire placed under careful control, "Something I think I should have told you a long, long time ago."

It was such a simple movement to lean in to her, natural even. Sasha's lips met Maya's, and the tide of her emotions rose again in full-force. The husky was gentle with the kiss though, barely pressing. She simply let her body do what the desires wanted, but under control. When Sasha glided her tongue past Maya's lips, she did it slow, and forced nothing. If Maya had fought it, Sasha would have backed off in an instant. There was no fighting though, no resistance, but neither was there reciprocation, a clear return of the kiss. It seemed Maya had simply allowed Sasha to do with the kiss what she would, trusted her, but had no clear response ready for it.

When Sasha pulled herself out of the kiss, opened her eyes, Maya's bewildered expression confirmed it. The feline's eyes stared back at Sasha, as if searching. Her mouth seemed to be trying to form words, but didn't come up with any. In response, Sasha offered her a smile, a reassuring smile, a smile to say so many kind words, but without making a single sound. It was, quite possibly, the most genuine smile she'd ever shown up to that point...

Then Sasha's comm rang. The digital blaring was so very loud and obnoxious in the golden silence they had there. Reality, in all it's shameless unapologetic bluster, had come back to shock them out of the moment.

Feeling herself flushed in total embarrassment, Sasha broke from the embrace, and snagged the comm from her pocket. Then her thoughts froze cold when she saw who the call was from.

"Maya I... it's my commander, I have to take this." the husky stated, utterly torn between desire and duty.

The dark feline said nothing in return, just nodded to Sasha. Muted as her expressions were, there still seemed to be some trust there. It was like Maya was saying, "Go ahead. I need time to figure this out anyway."

Seeing that was all the response she could get for now, Sasha simply said, "I'll talk to you later." and left Maya alone with all the confusing thoughts she must've been thinking.

Silently cursing the moment, but still true to her duty, Sasha received the call and placed the comm near her ear, "General Silver?"

"Congratulations again, Captain Zura." The Genera's booming voice greeted heartily over the comm channel, "Your first assignment for Macbeth's Special Forces begins right now."

"Now?"

"You're not apart of the rank-and-file anymore, Captain Zura." Silver reminded, "As one who employs unorthodox mission stratagem, you should anticipate that your missions will inevitably come at unorthodox times, and demand _immediate_ attention."

"Yes sir. Absolutely sir." Sasha could practically _feel _herself going into the rigid stance of attention again.

"Splendid!" the General went back to a deep, jolly tone, "Now then, report to room 132 of the Sedonis building for your mission briefing. That is all." And he cut the channel.

The Sedonis building? That was right here on the Eeasthold academy campus. And of _course_ the General would know to find Sasha here, with the stupid ceremony going on and everything. He probably even arranged the briefing so Sasha wouldn't have time to change out of the silly dress uniform; likely his idea of a joke for new Special Forces officers...

With an uneasy but dutiful sigh, Sasha started across campus toward the Sedonis building.

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Author Notes:

Yay! Finally another chapter! And there's even a touching little moment between Sasha and Maya that's been needing to happen for a while! What happens next? We'll just have to wait and find out!

A very special thank you goes out to user Phoenix Ray, who helped me with some of the finer emotional detailing. Otherwise I would've done this in my usual heavy-handed bluntness, so thank you for that.

And, as always, your feedback is most welcome!


	4. The First of Many

_Comments,  
Anonymous former member of Lylat Central Intelligence. _

Zoness, immediately before the war, was... to call it "turbulent" wouldn't even _begin_ to cover the utter mess of that situation.

The government of Zoness –what little government there was, anyway– was under a great deal of pressure from the Venom Coalition to join. The world was a hugely major exporter of raw materials, with the industrial interests of Macbeth being the main trading partner. The dominant Zonessian trade tycoons were far more interested in a neutral business relationship, but with pressure from the Venom Coalition mounting, some began to support joining the coalition. This began a rift among the mercantile lords, starting with Jace Matai, the headstrong young heir to the powerful and influential Matai estate.

It started simply with strong verbal and rhetorical objections from Jace, which seemed to be ignored by his senior peers, for a while anyway. Then there seemed to be some mob activity beneath the scenes, the many black-market factions of Zoness jockeying for position, likely to undermine the Matai estate's holdings and weaken Jace's position. After further vehement public demagoguery from Jace, it wasn't long until the mere mob war escalated beyond the black market, swelling into a complete civil conflict. Militia groups started springing up all across Zoness; some backing Jace, some backing Venom, many for their own reasons. Almost all of these groups were little more than mere civilians who had guns dropped in their hands, and given an excuse to shoot.

Jace Matai demanded intervention from Corneria to resolve the conflict, but Corneria wasn't about to jump in on a planet's civil war, and left Zoness to its own devices. The feeble government of Zoness was practically powerless against the forces tearing the planet apart, with security forces behaving essentially like just another militia faction in the conflict. They could barely keep such basic services as spaceports operable, which were one of the few "neutral territories" in the Zoness civil war.

It wasn't really a war though, and it was _anything_ but civil.

For one, there generally wasn't a whole lot of actual fighting going on, most of the time. Where there were many militia groups vying for control, like in the city of Port Seyid, it was more like an unbearable tension. Armed militia members would patrol the streets of their turf, watching, waiting, reporting any and all movement. All the while, under the cloud of the impending firefight, the unaffiliated civilians tried desperately to continue their ordinary lives. Everyone, everywhere, was on-edge.

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_**The First of Many**_

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/

Captain Sasha Zura, along with her squad –Gavin Fletcher, Anton Xavier and Silas Vance, the same soldiers with whom she'd completed the Gauntlet– all exited the Port Seyid central spaceport. The four soldiers were all outfitted as mercenaries though: no uniforms, no military issue gear (nothing that wasn't available surplus anyway), nothing at all to connect them to any government. The reason for the subterfuge was in their mission, and the other person who was with them coordinating it.

This new person was Connor Griffon, an agent for the Venom Intelligence Conglomerate. Connor was an older raptor avian, with rusty red plumage and prominent black head-feathers that swept back over his scalp. He was dressed as a somewhat wealthy civilian, in but bold enough clothing to appear as someone of prominence. A "black market arms dealer" was his cover for being here, and this justified the cadre of "mercenary bodyguards" in the tense, near-hostile Port Seyid environment.

The mission, under less dangerous circumstances, would have been relatively straightforward. Connor would approach someone he believed could be recruited into Venom Intelligence, and then offer him the chance to serve the cause. The fact that the prospective recruit had involved himself in the Zoness civil conflict, in the middle of Port Seyid no less, made protection for Connor Griffon an important consideration here. So to fulfill this need, Venom Intelligence called on Macbeth's special forces, and General Silver supplied them with Sasha Zura and her unit. It was as good a mission as any to be their first as apart of Special Forces.

Connor and the squad proceeded through the city on foot. Sasha and Gavin took lead positions up front, while Anton and Silas took up the rear, and Connor in center.

Their destination was in the nearby historical district of Port Seyid, through a series of older plazas connected by narrow streets. In peaceful times, the quaint, antique charm of the area would have been bustling with commerce, fueled mainly by tourism. Right now though, with the district heavily populated by militia fighters, it was akin to a bad urban neighborhood, but far worse. The militia fighters were everywhere; walking the streets, standing watch, and generally being a permeating presence, while the nervous business owners that were still around did their best to serve a smattering of equally nervous customers. Every once in a while, a gunshot would ring off nearby, and the locals would barely register it, not even so much as a twitch...

It was, in so many words, eerie.

Sasha Zura was more than a little nervous about the situation, with militia fighters everywhere she looked. One couldn't walk through one plaza or down one street without seeing at least one of them. They were all armed, openly, mostly with cheap assault weapons and sidearms, and very little else. The ragtag fighters didn't seem at all trained, didn't have any of the soldiers' habits or demeanor to them, and were lucky to have any equipment at all beyond just the firearm in their clumsy, untrained hands.

What was most troubling to Sasha though was how unpredictable the situation was. There was no telling when fighting could break out, where hostiles could come from if it did, how many would respond to a fight, or even _how _they would respond. There was no law here, no protocols, no patterns, just endless, ambiguous threat.

"It's just a little suggestion from me fellas, but try to relax." Connor said, glancing to the four incognito soldiers around him, "All of this hyper-alertness of yours makes the militia fighters nervous, and nervous armed civilians are trigger-happy armed civilians."

"What makes you so sure that we're in danger?" Sasha knew they were in danger, that was obvious, but she still wanted to hear what the spy had to say, what his view of the situation was.

"Look at them: they're on-edge." the rusty red avian said, glancing toward a small group across the plaza, "You see the way stare, how chatter amongst themselves when they see us, fondling their weapons like their lover's ass. They're worried, they're not sure who these strange new people are, if they're a threat, or maybe an opportunity–"

"Alright alright, we get it..." Gavin, cut him off with a grumbling sigh.

"Just keep your cool, loosen up your tension." Connor suggested, "Better yet, project a kind of tired _'don't screw with me' _attitude, similar to how you might be in the morning before you've had coffee."

"Like _'this cheap jerkwad doesn't pay us enough'_." Anton joked, adding a chuckle in his deep raspy voice, "I can do that."

A few more minutes and a few more plazas later, the group came to the target building: a quaint hotel, seamlessly tucked into the dense, antiquated cityscape. This was the place where the potential recruit was supposed to be staying at the moment. Such a nondescript location would be to conducive to staying out-of-the-way, to stay hidden.

The group entered through the front door of the old hotel. The lobby –if it could even be called that– wasn't nearly as large or accommodating as modern hotels. There was barely enough room for the receptionist's desk, behind which was mottled feline, a lynx type. He looked completely civilian, except for the armband he wore, and the shotgun resting on the desktop.

When the lynx glanced up and saw the four "mercenaries" and Connor, he immediately snatched up his shotgun and took aim at the newcomers, shouting, "Back off! This building is territory of the Zoness People's Opposition!"

Sasha and the squad snapped their weapons into firing position in response. For a few tense moments, nobody did anything, except for maybe the lynx. He was nearly trembling with nervousness, bordering on terror in the face of so many far more dangerous-seeming figures.

After the lynx had stewed in his own juices for a bit, Connor stepped forward to the reception desk, holding up his hand in a calm gesture as he glanced over his shoulder to the soldiers, calling them off.

"What's your business here?" the lynx demanded. He was still nervous, but at least he lowered his weapon a little.

"I'm a mere traveling salesman, peddling my wares." the avian spy answered in a smooth, practiced tone.

"What kind of wares, exactly?"

"You seem like a decent enough fellow, but I don't believe I need to tell you details– wouldn't to get you into trouble after all. I'm simply here to settle into the area for a while, and I'd like to have a relatively comfortable, discreet place that I may do business from." Connor reached inside his jacket, and presented a stack of credit-bills to the lynx, "Will this be enough to have such a place here?"

Between bing hopelessly out-gunned, and a healthy stack of cash that was just offered to him, it was no problem for the lynx to accept Connor's offer.

"I'll... I'll show you to your room." he said as he took the cash, then stepped out from behind the desk, "Right this way."

"Thank you."

The lynx led the group up a narrow staircase, tucked away into a corner of the space, which led to a tight, winding corridor barely large enough for two people to walk side-by-side through. The building almost certainly wasn't meant to be a hotel when it was first constructed. The hotel instead seemed to be cobbled together from different buildings jammed together in the past, and renovated into one unit. Between the winding corridors and strangely placed staircases, it would be very easy to become lost or disoriented in this place if one didn't know the layout.

Taking care to make sure the lynx militiaman wasn't paying attention, Sasha motioned back to Specialist Vance to conduct an EM signal sweep. Hopefully he'd be able to pinpoint the target's room in one pass, with minimal fuss. At Sasha's silent order, Silas Vance brought out his EM analyzer, held it low and out of the way, and conducted his scan while the group continued through.

In a few more moments, the group came to a door, one of a few along the narrow corridor. The lynx took an electronic key-card out of his pocket and swiped it over the digital lock mechanism. There was a _beep, _a _click, _and the door slid open into a modest suite. The militiaman showed the group inside, and handed the key-card to Connor before departing, leaving the group to themselves.

"So Vance, talk to me." Connor began as soon as the door was closed, "Did we find any possible matches? Do we know where his room is?"

The primate fiddled a little with his wrist-computer, then found a map of the hotel left on a table in the room, likely for the guests' convenience. "I've got a pretty good idea where his room is. There's a faint, ultrahigh-band short-range transmission, going to this room, encrypted pretty tightly." Vance pointed out on of the rooms on the hotel map, "This means he's got eyes on the outside though, active surveillance, and it's possible he's aware of us already."

"Did you get a good look?" Connor questioned, "Could you identify who the outside guy was?"

"Not really, no."

"So, what's our plan?" Sgt. Fletcher asked, nearly bouncing with eagerness, "How do we approach this guy?"

"The polite way, I think: I'll knock on the door."

There was an awkward period of silence then, with the squad eyeing Connor, not entirely sure if he was joking. After a bit, Corporal Xavier finally was the one to speak up, break the tension.

"Yes, but..." the reptile paused a moment, "What will the _rest _of us do while you knock on the door?"

This elicited a small chuckle from the sharp-dressed avian agent, and then he proceeded to lay out a plan, using the hotel map as a visual aid. "Zura, you're on point with me at the door. Vance, you stay right behind Zura and I, monitoring any comm activity. Fletcher and Xavier, you two will sight down both directions along the hallway outside, watching for anyone that tries to ambush us on our flank."

"Are you expecting trouble from this guy?" Sasha asked, thinking the plan was a little on the paranoid side for a simple recruitment.

"Hopefully not, but I'm always expecting trouble nonetheless." Connor replied with a little shrug, then asked to the squad, "Anyone have any questions before we head out?"

The four soldiers answered him with silence, and stoic readiness.

"Alright then, let's go."

Connor took one last look at the map, getting his bearings straight, and the group went back into the narrow hallway outside to continue the mission.

It was a small thing, but Sasha appreciated the direct and curt manner Connor laid the plan out. Connor Griffon knew he had soldiers with him, and had the thoughtful courtesy to treat them the way they're used to: laying out a clear plan of action, with direct concise orders. It kept things simple, flexible, allowing the squad some degree of autonomy in the situation, yet with no ambiguity in the goal, the way any good commander would.

A few moments later, the group came to the door Specialist Vance had indicated earlier. There wasn't much of interest there, other than the "do not disturb" sign placed on the outside, a sign they would promptly disregard.

Once the four soldiers were in their positions, Connor stepped up and knocked on the door three times, good and loud. A dull thud of heavy footsteps followed on the other side, and the room intercom speakers clicked on with a dull crackle of static.

"What does the sign say?" a gruff, annoyed voice asked on the intercom.

"Rick old buddy! You in there?" Connor replied with grand friendly enthusiasm, "It's me! Connor!"

"Dammit." another, older voice cursed with a sigh, "Stand down Alastar, let them in."

The door quickly slid open after that. On the other side was a well armed schnauzer or terrier type canid mercenary. His wiry fur was in an even pattern, colored either dark brown or a very pale tan. The mercenary sported some well-used combat armor, strapped over a hodgepodge of military style fatigues. He carried himself with a precise, deliberate, practiced demeanor, similar habits that Sasha had seen in good soldiers. He was armed with an assault rifle in his hands, a handgun in a holster strapped to his thigh, and most curiously, a sword-like weapon strapped to his back... The sword may have been an odd choice, but mercs tended to have an awfully wide spread in terms of possible gear load-out. Another item he had that caught Sasha's attention was the personal shield projector, and a couple other items she didn't quite recognize...

Clearly this mercenary, named "Alastar" if she remembered correctly from the brief intercom conversation, was far more than simple gun-for-hire. He was a fearsome, battle-hardened force to be reckoned with.

Alastar stepped aside, allowing Connor and Sasha and Vance into the hotel room. It was a lot like the one they'd been given earlier, if a little bit smaller, different configuration, and more lived-in. The only real difference was the minor clutter occupying the room; a drink or food container here or there.

Across the room, approaching the newcomers at a cautious walking pace, was another figure. He was a weary, sharp-eyed raccoon, late in his middle-age by the look of him. He was dressed in inconspicuous civilian clothes, and had a sort of wincing scowling look to his face that was both incredibly annoyed, and intensely curious. He must've been the "Rick" character Connor called out to over the intercom.

"What the hell are you doing here, Connor?" Rick asked as he came to stop. His gravely voice matched his annoyed/curious demeanor.

"Looking for you, actually." the avian answered

"What for?"

"To help each other, I hope." Cinnor clarified, "You and I both know that things just hasn't been the same since the Agency scattered, when that Gillian Morrow bitch tore up Lylat Central Intelligence after Union Congress disbanded."

While Connor and Rick discussed their business, Sasha noticed several peculiar, nervous tendencies from Alastar. The mercenary would look intensely at Sasha, for a long time, but then snap his attention away from her the second Sasha would look directly at him. His breathing was irregular too, alternating between deep sighs and quick shallow breaths. The canid mercenary kept fidgeting with his weapon, like he didn't quite know what to do with his hands, like he was worried about something, like the situation might suddenly erupt...

"You don't have to remind me what happened, Connor." Rick continued, "I was there when the Conrerian commandos stormed HQ, and I was lucky to escape with my life..." He shot a familiar look toward Alastar then.

Alastar was utterly oblivious, not paying attention at all to Rick. What was making this Alastar character so fidgety and edgy? Was there some threat to the situation she hadn't taken into account? Were they in any immediate danger?

Sasha didn't like it.

"And just _look_ at you now Rick! _Look_ at what your hard-won life has been reduced to..." the avian spy exclaimed, making a broad gesture around the hotel room, "You're hiding out in Port Seyid, in the middle of what may as well be a Zonessian civil war, doing dirty work for that Jace Matai punk. He's nothing but a spoiled mob prince who wants to play at being a revolutionary, dragging the whole damned planet along with him on his joyride. The Richard Cooney I know deserves _so_ much better than this crap."

"Matai and I simply have a business arrangement: he pays me, and I deliver." the older raccoon told Connor in a defensive tone, "I can cut ties any time I want."

"Then let me give you the opportunity to do just that." the rusty avian said with a strong confidence, "And if that's not enough, then know that when working with me, you'll get to give that Morrow bitch the rightful payback she has coming_. _What do you say, old friend, can I count on you?"

At this, Connor offered Rick his hand, and a look of genuine sincerity.

Alastar still looked his worried, nervous self, and it still bothered Sasha that he acted that way. She could understand a militiaman being constantly nervous like this, but not one who was well-trained like this Alastar individual. A soldier or highly professional mercenary acting nervous and edgy meant there was trouble, somewhere, somehow. If there was any threat, neither Connor nor Rick seemed to be acknowledging it, so focused they were on each other and their exchange...

The raccoon simply stood silently for a little bit, before finally shaking his head, and offered Connor a helpless shrug, "Look, Connor, I'm a little busy at the moment. You caught me at an awkward time."

"It's always an awkward time these days." the avian spy responded.

"Yeah, no arguments here." Rick replied with a little chuckle, "Seriously though, I'm about to have a meet with some of Matai's goons in a half-hour. How about you and I meet at the Pedra Torre cafe down the street, tomorrow at noon? We'll do lunch, and we can talk more about working together again."

"Sounds like a plan."

"It's... good to see you again, Connor." this time, Rick was the one who extended his hand, and offered the sincere look to his old comrade.

"Likewise." the avian gripped the other's hand, and returned the look, "Tomorrow at noon then, Pedra Torre."

"I'll see you there."

The two old friends released each others hands, and Connor led the group out of Rick's room and back toward theirs.

For the life of her, Sasha couldn't quite understand why Alastar was so on-edge during the meeting. Rick seemed accommodating enough to his guests, that should've been enough to put the canid mercenary at-ease, or at least made him a little less overtly nervous. Did he perceive them as more of a threat than Rick did, or was it something else entirely? Strange...

A few moments later had Connor and the squad regrouped in their hotel room. The older avian spy wasted no time beginning his little debriefing.

"Well, that went well enough for a first-meet I think." Connor's words took on a tone of nostalgia then, reminiscing, "Rick and I go way back in Lylat Central Intelligence, when that agency still existed. We did some good work in our older days, and it'd be nice to do some good work with him again."

"I'm not too sure about that Alastar bodyguard of his though." Sasha added, "He was nervous and fidgety all through the meeting. I think that might indicate a threat."

"Uhh... Captain Zura?" Connor interrupted, giving her a peculiar look, like she'd forgotten something.

"What?"

"Rick's mercenary helper _was _nervous and fidgety, but it wasn't because he perceived or represented any immediate threat, per-se." the older avian took a moment, dancing around the subject, finding the right way to say what he had to say, "It was because he's... well... he's attracted to you."

"He– Attracted– wha–?" Wait a minute. Was he really? All that restless awkwardness was just him being nervous around a woman? Around _her?_ Sasha felt herself go flush as the embarrassment sunk in.

"I'm with Connor on this one, chief." Specialst Vance said. The primate was awfully confident in his assessment; even _he _could see it... "The guy's eyes were constantly drifting down, looking at your, um..." to even further clarify his point, Silas Vance traced an hourglass figure in the air with his hands: Sasha's body.

"Daaaamn, chief!" Sgt. Fletcher exclaimed, nearly bursting out laughing.

"I didn't– I mean–" Sasha stammered out, still reeling from the embarrassment of her utter obliviousness, "I actually _missed_ that?"

"What? You can't tell when a guy is ogling you?" Corporal Xavier asked, "I would've figured a fit, sexy body like yours would've had guys' gazes all over, I mean, that you'd be more used to men staring at..." the reptile trailed off, probably because he thought maybe he was going somewhere inappropriate for a subordinate.

Truth was, Shasha wasn't at all used to having guys stare at her that way. She was lesbian, she knew this: she felt flustered and nervous looking at _women, _like when she looks at Maya for instance. For all her adult life, Sasha had seen men as her equals, as coworkers, as fellow cadets and soldiers. Those men, being focused military professionals, never really objectified her the way they might objectify other women.

"All jocularity aside, this is actually a very good thing." Connor said, thankfully getting the discussion back on track, "We might be able to use this little crush Alastar has on you."

"What do you mean?" Sasha asked, relived, but still kind of getting over the humiliation.

"Rick and I have a meet set up for tomorrow,. He'll no doubt bring Alastar with him, since he's Rick's protection, but Rick and I will want to be left alone when we talk business. So, here's what we do: I bring Cpt. Zura along as _my_ protection, and when Rick and I need to be left alone, you'll be alone with Alastar, with the perfect opportunity to chat privately with him while Rick and I talk business." the avian spy turned his focus more directly to Sasha here, "You're going to use this time to talk with Alastar, get on his good side, find out more about him and his connection with Rick. The information and connection you establish may come in handy depending on how things go."

"So, you're saying you want me to have a date with him?" Sasha asked.

"Yes... sort-of." Connor confirmed, and explained further, "Alastar _may_ have been ogling you the entire time we were there, but he didn't seem particularly thrilled to be under Rick's command either. It's possible that he could become an asset to the mission."

"You can tell all that?" the husky officer asked, somewhat skeptical of him, "From one little visit?"

The avian gave her a shrug and nonchalant nod as he gave his answer, "Mostly it's observational speculation, but that's why we need you to go on this 'date': to gather more information, so we can make better-informed decisions as things progress."

"I see..." Sasha said with a small nod. Connor's plan made sense enough, and if it'll help the mission, then she may as well go along with it, "Alright, I'll do it... for the mission."

"Hehe, all in the line-of-duty, huh chief?" Sgt Fletcher said with a little suggestive smirk.

"Do I sense a little jealousy from you, Gavin?" Xavier replied, matching his comrade's joking attitude.

"Hell _yeah!_" the avian soldier exclaimed with exaggerated pride, "I wouldn't mind a hot date as apart of the mission."

"I'd hardly call this Alastar guy 'hot'." Silas Vance replied, "He was actually kinda scruffy for a canid..."

Connor took Sasha aside for a moment, leaving the men to their jokes. Even if it was at Sasha's expense, blowing off a little steam like that would help with unit cohesion, build trust between them.

"I'll be honest with you," Connor began, quietly, so the others couldn't hear, "I'm _very_ relived to have a woman like you on the team for this, especially one –pardon me for saying so– as hot and sexy as you are. Few other soldiers would have been willing to subject themselves to the spy-work I'm putting you through so readily."

"If it'll help the mission, I'm game for almost anything... _almost._" Sasha added that at the end there, "I'm no spy though."

"Maybe not, but you're smart, I can see that." The spy assured her, "I'll coach you through the basics that you'll need to know; very simple stuff, really. You'll have this under control no problem I think."

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/

_Comments,  
Anonymous former member of Lylat Central Intelligence. _

That was the first time I'd really seen Sasha Zura. Even in our first brief envounter, I knew immediately she was sharp: a consummate professional, if a little clumsy with personal feelings. Zura was a soldier, she could be forgiven her lack of emotional awareness in favor of more immediate tactical concerns.

She got better over time though, much better, and continued to surprise me ever since.

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/

Author notes:

Aaaaaand the mission begins, more to come later.

Alastar, by the way, is one of the characters featured on this story's cover art, along with Sasha herself. Clever readers who've read my "Legacy" stories may recognize a certain character featured in this chapter and coming chapters.

Also, special thanks to Tobias Umbra, for allowing me to include the character "Gillian Morrow" referenced earlier in the chapter, and who may well crop up later in the story. She's a part of Tobias's stories, which you should go read immediately if at all possible.

As always, you feedback is most welcome. Take care!


	5. Tact and Tactics

Comments,  
Anonymous former member of Lylat Central Intelligence

Soldiers, by their general nature, make both excellent spies and terrible spies. There's a reason after all why people from military backgrounds are among the most popular recruits for spy work. Mainly it was a practical decision of survivability: soldiers were well trained to operate in stressful combat situations, and to make quick, decisive tactical assessments. Both traits were handy for spies handling sensitive and vital information, to make it to the end of the mission alive.

What made soldiers terrible spies, by and large, was the habitually gruff demeanor they exhibited, ground into the military psyche by the very combat training that kept them alive. Spy work, especially when interacting with people that may become assets, demanded a certain sense of tact, of subtle awareness and poise. These were niceties that hardened soldiers typically couldn't afford to focus on.

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**Tact and Tactics**

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/

For Sasha Zura, the evening and morning before Connor's main meeting with Rick –before _her_ meeting with Alastar– was spent getting something of a crash-course in intelligence work.

Connor did his best to be a accommodating teacher, and Sasha a receptive student. One of the more prominent points Connor enforced was the kind of control Sasha should be able to have over Alastar. While Alastar was clearly affected, having that attraction toward Sasha, Sasha herself could remain detached, having little personal emotional stake in the interaction. This meant she could weave the conversation with Alastar around on her terms.

On the one hand, this made Sasha feel a bit like a fraud, like the manipulative, inauthentic women who enjoyed stringing along the affections of gullible ogling men. On the other hand, this emotional security took some of the load off her nerves for the meeting. It'd be up to her to help Alastar feel comfortable and receptive to conversation, and thankfully she'd be in a pretty ideal position to do just that.

"Don't force things, let the conversation flow naturally." Connor would often remind Sasha over the course of his coaching. "Everything you'll need to know _will _be there, you just need to let it present itself."

That's mainly what was going through Sasha Zura's mind on the way to the meeting, on the way to the Pedra Torre Cafe. The picturesque streets and plazas were a little less intimidating now, mainly due to Sasha's focus on the operation at hand, partly due to some small measure of familiarity. It was some comfort to Sasha to know that she –being a well armed, well equipped and well trained 'mercenary'– was more intimidating to the local militiamen than the militiamen were to her.

The operation itself was straightforward enough: Connor and Rick would be meeting privately, which means they'd leave their bodyguards alone with each other. Sasha would strike up friendly conversation with Alastar, and whatever happened from there would happen.

To better facilitate this, Connor opted to take just Sasha to the meet, leaving the rest of her squad behind. Hopefully they weren't getting themselves into too much mischief...

Connor and Sasha made it to the Pedra Torre Cafe with little trouble. The cafe was quaint enough: some seating had been set up outside, taking advantage of the naturally pleasant weather at this place. There was a tantalizing scent of fresh brewed coffee and pastries wafting out from the open front door, with some light atmospheric folk music playing in the background. Truly, were it not for the rampant political tension strangling all of Zoness at the time –which made proprietor and patrons perpetually weary– the cafe would've been an absolutely charming little place to relax and unwind at.

Sitting at one of the tables outside were Rick and his bodyguard Alastar. The scene would've been normal enough, if not for the fact that Alastar beeing in a public place fully equipped in combat gear. Then again, that sort of thing _was _the 'normal' for the tension at the time.

"Connor!" Rick greeted, standing up from the table. He seemed in much better spirits now, "Glad you could make it."

"Same here, Rick." the rusty avian replied, while the two exchanged a friendly handshake.

"Let's go on inside, and talk about this opportunity of yours." the raccoon invited.

Connor gave him a nod, and turned to Sasha, "Wait out here until we're done. Shouldn't be too long."

"You got it." the husky responded.

While Rick and Connor moved inside the cafe, Sasha sat herself down right across from Alastar.

He was still a little shifty like he was before, but it didn't make Sasha anywhere near as suspicious as it had then, knowing that Alastar was just being nervous because of attraction reasons. She could relate, and even sympathize, having gone through a similar nervous bout with Maya before. It wasn't exactly fun position to be it, so she worked on putting Alastar at ease.

"It's such a lovely place here." Sasha mused, looking around at the quaint, almost nostalgic scenery around them, "A shame what's going on with all that militia business."

"I Came here once when I was a lot younger, before all this." Alastar replied, also taking in the surroundings, "These old streets were so much busier then: lots of folks, going about their business, having a good time."

"I wish I could've seen it."

"Once all this business blows over, maybe you can." Alastar suggested, and added with a little resentment, "The politics these days are just... all screwed around."

"Yeah, no kidding." the husky agreed. "Is that how you wound up working for that Rick guy?"

"Sort of, I suppose." the merc answered with a small shrug, "It's a bit of a long story, and not an especially cheery one at that."

"What's so not-cheerful about it?" Sasha asked, believing this might be a chance to check out his background.

Alastar didn't seem exactly comfortable though at the question. He squirmed in his chair, fidgeting, eyes shifting away.

"I'm sorry." Sasha apologized, feeling she'd overstepped in her prying. She needed to try and keep him comfortable, "If you don't want to talk about it..."

"No, no– it's alright. I mean... " Alastar said, flustering and fumbling over his words as he looked back. He stopped, took a quick breath, and started his words over from the beginning, "I used to be military: Cornerian Army, First Dragoon Guard."

"Ah, right, that makes sense." Sasha said with a nod, "I noticed some of your gear: pretty advanced stuff, almost one-man-army material there."

Captain Zura had heard of the Cornerian Army's Dragoon Guard before. It was supposed to be an advanced commando unit, one that specialized in urban guerrilla warfare. Beyond that however, she knew very little about them.

"Well, that's sort of the idea." Alastar confirmed with some subtle pride. This seemed to loosen him up a little, as he further explained, "The way the Dragoons usually worked was: one squad of Dragoons punches ahead, each soldier spread across the target area, each one acting individually. We take the attention of the enemy, disrupt the defenses, while the main assault wave of rolls in behind us into the enemies' confusion."

"So like shock troops then," Sasha observed, "Spearheading the advance."

"Exactly!" Alastar agreed, then moved the subject forward, "As to how I wound up here though... there was this one mission, off the books, black ops. We were sent into the target building ahead of the main infantry wave, the usual way."

"Right, right." Sasha said with a nod. The merc finally seemed comfortable now, at least, comfortable enough to go into his background. Hopefully there'd be some useful information here.

"While I was in there, combing the building from room to room, I ran into this cluster of civilians hiding out and... there were _kids _in there, little children, a whole lot of them. They'd come in and hunkered down, looking for someplace they were hoping was safe, but it _wasn't _safe. In another few minutes or so, the main assault force would have rolled on through and..." Alastar stopped short, lost track of his words. He seemed like he was affected by this moment, this concept. The canid mercenary soon found his words again, but they were pained words now, strained by some hardship, or harsh experience, "You know how many civilian casualties a brutal infantry sweep like that can take? How many will get killed dead, the only fault of them being in the wrong place, at the right time?"

"Yeah... all too well, actually." the husky replied, now in a far more somber tone.

This had suddenly claimed Sasha's interest. The fact that this mere mercenary was in-fact a man of deep compassion. But yet, here he was as a lowly gun for hire, working for a less-than-benign cause. How in Lylat could Alastar have wound up so far down?

"So what did you do there, with the civilians?" Sasha asked, leaning a little in, pulled by her curiosity.

"I led them away." he explained, "I found them an exit, and got them out of the building to somewhere safer... I figured no one would've noticed."

"But someone _did_ notice, didn't they?"

"Yeah, that they did..." Alastar changed his voice here, imitating a figure of authority, "_'That was _not_ your decision to make or to act upon, Sergeant Alastar Korvyn!'_ my commander told me when I tried to defend my actions, _'Your mission was to scout ahead and disrupt the enemy's defensive capabilities ahead of the main assault force! Your little stint as 'guardian angel' distracted you from this utmost imperative mission objective, and in so doing may well have cost us the lives of good soldiers, should they have blundered into a trap because of _your_ lack of discipline! That is a _disgrace _to the Dragoon Guard, Sergeant Korvyn!'_"

Alastar spat out those final words, almost like he was trying to get the bad taste of the harsh reprimand out of his mouth. The resentment in his voice continued through as he explained what occurred next, "My superiors couldn't formally court-marshal me; the mission was off-the-books, not supposed to exist. So they reassigned to some rubbish post instead, and I'm fairly certain they were working on some excuse to discharge me outright."

"I'm so sorry..."

Sasha found herself thinking of her father, of everything he and the Zura family wet through after the 'Massacre on Fortuna' all those years before; the humiliation, the feeling of betrayal. Alastar's situation may have had a somewhat different context, but so much of it was the same. She could only feel sympathy for what he went through, for what he must've endured.

"I wasn't having any of it." Alastar continued, the resentment still clinging to his words like a verbal stink, "I couldn't fight for an army that way, not when everything is so wound up in petty political garbage, so I resigned."

"I understand." Sasha replied, trying to control her emotions, trying keep that old pain buried.

The picture of Alastar Korvyn was starting to become clearer now, and he was right: it wasn't a very cheery one. Some things though didn't quite line up right though. How could Corneria, which had thrown up its arms and cried 'Scandal!' for Kell Zura's ruthlessness, turn right around and reprimand Alastar for showing some shred compassion in the line of duty? Had the military-political situation for her homeworld degraded so far these last years?

"I started up mercenary work shortly after that. Rick hired me as his bodyguard, and that pretty much brings us here..." after looking glancing around, checking his surroundings, Alastar leaned in and added quietly, "To be honest though, I'm starting to have second thoughts about working for that guy."

"Oh?" This could be the break Connor was looking for, something possibly valuable...

"It's been a terrible deal all-around, really." the merc explained, "You know he's former LCI: he meddles in things, makes _far_ too many dangerous enemies doing it, and not for the right reasons either I think."

"Like this thing with the Matai estate." Sasha recalled.

"Precisely: the _'spoiled mob prince'_ your Connor fellow called him, and he's exactly right as far as I'm concerned." the familiar pang of resentment came through his words again, but now there was a bit of quiet desperation, "If there were a better opportunity available, I'd take it in a heartbeat–"

All of a sudden, Alastar seemed to realize something terrible, and palmed himself in his forehead as he moaned out, "Oh _no..._ "

"Something wrong?" Sasha asked, genuinely concerned for him now.

"All this time I spent talking about myself, and I didn't even get your _name!_" Alastar exclaimed as he shook his head, mortified, "I... _dammit..._"

"It's Sasha." the husky said through a little smile and giggle.

"And such a _lovely_ name it is." the merc complimented, trying desperately to salvage the situation, "It suits you."

She had to admit, seeing Alastar fumble about like he did was rather endearing. Most of the guys Sasha had taken time to get to know before were gruffer, more regimented military men, like the officer cadets at Easthold. There wasn't much before that, never really being into guys the way most other girls were.

Rick and Connor emerged from the cafe's interior, stopping to exchange a few more words.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Alastar." Sasha said, standing up from the table, getting ready to meet up with Connor again

"Do you?..." Alastar got up too, his words dropping like flies, "I mean..."

"Yes?"

"Maybe– you know– when we're not attached to our clients and everything, we could do something like this again sometime?" he suggested, his tone strained to breaking with a wishful hope.

"Oh, absolutely." Sasha agreed, "I'd like that."

"Great!" Alastar blurted out, relieved, as if a massive burden had been taken off his back.

The of them two hastily exchanged contact information, seeing Rick and Connor wrap up their final exchange, and about to reclaim their bodyguards. They soon departed the Pedra Torre Cafe, with few other words afterward. Sasha went with Connor, Alastar with Rick.

Sasha enjoyed seeing him cheer up like this, especially after how glum talking about his past made him. It was a real shame how much trouble Alastar had to go through, simply for the fact that he acted on his sense of compassion. He deserved better than the life he had now, barely scraping by under the employ of a shady figure.

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During the return to the old hotel, Sasha couldn't help but notice how quiet Connor was being, how detached he was, not saying a single word at all.

After the rather uneventful trip, the two of them regrouped in their hotel room with the rest of the squad.

"There's... a bit of bad news." Connor announced, his tone grim and foreboding. "I thought for sure Rick would come to our side. I thought we had enough history together to build on, but... he won't be joining us, and there's no convincing him otherwise..."

"So, what does that mean for us?" Coproral Xavier asked.

"It's not what what I wanted, but... We'll have to eliminate him." Connor answered.

"Assassination." Sgt. Fletcher stated, to which Connor nodded in response.

"Wait a minute, is that _really_ necessary?" Sasha asked. Rick and Connor seemed to friendly to each other before, having to kill Rick didn't quite make sense to her.

"Belive me, I wish there was another way." the older avian spy explained, "Thing about Rick is: he is absolutely, insidiously, _dangerous_. He can organize intricate double-agent operations like it was nothing, playing multiple sides of any given conflict like a one-man-band. He can sabotage his targets' most vital operations barely lifting a finger, utilizing an extensive network of contacts he's built up over his career to support him. I'm not surprised he was able to sting himself along the way he has, without support from an agency to fall back on."

"Sounds like a handy person to have as an ally." Vance mused.

"Or an absolute _nightmare_ to have as an enemy, which he was." Connor responded, with an air of experience, "But since Rick isn't with us, that makes him a threat now, a threat we simply cannot afford to ignore."

"So, what's our game-plan then?" Xavier asked, ready for whatever came their way.

"Depends..." the avian spy said as he turned to Sasha, "Tell me about Rick's bodyguard: can we use him?"

"I... I think so." the husky officer answered, "We got a pretty good connection going during that first meet."

"Smooth moves there, chief." Gavin joked.

Connor shoot Fletcher a stern, piercing look, telling the soldier without words to "shut up" and quit fooling around such sensitive matters. When Gavin backed down, he turned back to Sasha, "You were saying..."

"Alastar isn't at all happy about working for Rick." the husky confirmed, "He's really hoping for a better opportunity to come his way."

"Then let's give him exactly that." Connor said, sounding relieved and highly motivated by these latest developments, "I need you to meet with Alastar again, and convince him to work with us to eliminate Rick." he told Sasha, "Promise him sanctuary and safety with Macbeth, outbid the price Rick pays– anything you can do to put his mind at ease, you go and do it. We'll make this messy business as clean and painless as we feasibly can, for everyone–"

"Connor." Sasha Zura interrupted, walking up to him.

"Hm?"

"Can you and I talk for a second?" the husky demanded quietly, so the others couldn't hear

Connor gave her a quick nod, and the two of them went outside the hotel room into the narrow halway outside. They spoke quietly, so not to attract unneeded attention

"If I make those kinds of promises to Alastar, if I tell him _'you'll be safe with us',_ will you be able to make good on it?" Sasha questioned, with such intensity in her words, and in the sharp-eyed gaze she landed on the older avian spy, "Will you keep your word to him, hold up your end of the bargain, or is he just another disposable tool to the operation?"

There was genuine concern there, for Alastar's safety, and for his well-being. She just couldn't feel right to promise someone so much for their help, only to cut them off later when their immediate usefulness ended. After all the trouble Alastar went through on his way to where he was, and what he'd go through again in betrayal, he especially deserved so much better than to be dumped on by his employers yet again. Sasha had to know that she was more than a mere pawn in Connor's little game, that Alastar would be more than a pawn if he followed through with the plan.

"Honestly, it depending on how things go." Connor responded as earnestly as he could, picking up on Sasha's concerned sentiment, "This may just be a one-off deal with Alastar, or we might be able to find him a more permanent place among us, even if it's simply a steady merc gig..." with a confident little smile, the spy then added, "With _you_ helping him along though, I think we can definitely win him over to our side. You've got a connection, use it."

So that was the answer then. If Alastar was going to be safe at the end of all this, then she had to get him to fully commit to betraying Rick, to being useful and dedicated. Sasha herself had to fully commit to selling that concept to him. Yeah, she could do that, no problem.

"Alright." Sasha said to Connor with a determined nod, "I'll make the call."

"And I'll leave you to it, Cpt. Zura." the older avian replied as he headed back inside the hotel room, leaving Sasha by herself outside.

Once alone, relatively anyway, the husky took out her personal comm and sent the call signal to Alastar.

While it was ringing though, she felt something inside her, some kind of hesitation? Why? She could do this– she _had _to do this, for him.

"Oh, hello Sasha." Alastar's voice greeted in her ear, "I didn't think you'd call back so soon."

"Aww, and why shouldn't I?" Sasha asked in a cheery tone, almost giggling. It came so effortlessly, without even trying, "Anyways, I really liked our little chat earlier today, and I was thinking I'd like to meet up again, like you suggested."

"Really? I didn't– I mean–" He stumbled and stuttered, still working himself up to believe his luck it sounded, "That's fantastic!"

"Did you have something specific in mind?" the husky asked, "You've been here longer than I have, you'd know more than I."

"Well..." Alastar's voice said over the comm, taking a moment, considering options? "I guess I could bring you around the area, show you some of the places here still alright to go to, like a little tour? We could go out this evening if you like."

"That sounds great!" Sasha agreed, with a little more enthusiasm than she'd anticipated. She seemed to be looking forward to seeing him again, a lot.

"Well alright then! Give me a few hours and we can meet up... " then he added, with some hint of resentment again, "Need to come up with a good excuse to get away from Rick."

"I'll see you in a few hours."

"Still, I'd recommend bringing your gear though." Alastar suggested, "Militia and all."

"Of course, I will." and with that Sasha hastily closed the channel.

She felt that her pulse had picked up, that her breath came uneasily, like she was nervous? But it was also a giddy anticipation... This wasn't attraction she was feeling, it _couldn't _be attraction, that's not how she felt about Alastar. This was concern for a good man who deserves better, and relief that she could do something about it. If Sasha was a little nervous, then it must've been because she wasn't used to this kind of 'open submerge' of espionage work. It didn't have anything to do with emotional investment... well, maybe it did, but not _that_ kind of emotion.

Sasha tried not to think about it anymore, and simply returned inside to begin prep-work, of for no other reason than to distract herself from all these conflicting emotions.

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/

True to their words, Sasha Zura and Alastar Korvyn met up with each other a few hours later, in the old plaza outside the hotel. The two of them walked through the dusk-lit antiquated streets of the historic district. The charm of it all was mired somewhat though, with the always-present pressure of the militias, forcing Sasha and Alastar, for their own safety, to meet while wearing their full combat gear with assault rifles slung over their shoulders.

Nevertheless, they were together as they strolled cautiously through the old city, and alone enough to discuss certain pressing matters.

"You told me _so_ much about yourself earlier today." Sasha began,

"Sorry, heh..." Alastar responded, giving a slight shrug and smile, "Got a little ahead of myself there, didn't I?"

"So..." the husky continued, "I think it's my turn now to tell you a little about me."

"Fair enough."

"I'm not actually a mercenary." She confessed, more than a little suddenly, "I'm with Macbeth Special Forces."

The revelation silenced Alastar for a few moments. One could practically _see_ his original train of thought veering off the rails in his head, with his awkward shifting eyes, furrowing brow, as well as a few ill-fated attempts to begin a sentence before he finally managed to blurt out, "But... you're Cornerian, I _know _it. I can tell by your accent–"

"I _am..._" Sasha confirmed, stepping on his words.

"Then how–"

"My name is Sasha _Zura_. My father is _Kell_ Zura, formerly of the Cornerian Army."

"Zura... Kell Zura... I _know_ I've heard that name before..." Alastar's free had was scratching head, digging thought his thoughts, until the buried thought was found, "Oooooh that's right! They _still _tell stories about what happened to him. So he moved to Macbeth, did he? And you, in the Macbeth military... how does that work, exactly?"

"It's kinda complicated." the husky admitted with a little shrug.

"Right..." he said, giving an understanding nod.

"Alastar, there's something else..." Sasha's tone became far more focused, more determined. There may have even been a few traces of her stern 'officer's voice' creeping in now, "and I _need _to be honest with you about it."

"Right?" in any case, she'd captured the merc's complete attention for the moment.

"Connor is organizing an assassination operation against Rick, your boss, right now."

"And... why are you telling me, exactly?" Alastar asked, while a quizzical look quickly overtook his features, "I _am _his bodyguard after all."

"Because I like you Alastar, I really do, and I don't want to see you hurt, or worse..."

Sasha felt the pressure of emotions behind those words, and not entirely false ones either. This was concern again, for a good man. She steeled herself after this short moment, and pressed forward, "I know you're not exactly on good terms with Rick, that he doesn't really treat you well. You know far better than I do how dangerous he is, and I really don't think it's worth putting your life on the line for him, not with what we'll have coming his way. You a good person, and you _deserve_ so much better than that."

"So, you want me to betray him?" It was clear that Alastar understood what she wanted, and why. Now was just a matter of selling it, to make him want it too.

"You mentioned you'd take a better opportunity if one came up: _this _is that opportunity, right here." Sasha insisted, doing her best to keep feelings in check, focused on selling the concept, "We can give you safe amnesty with Macbeth, compensate you for any financial troubles it may cause, even set you up with a new client if you need it, and..."

Sasha stepped closer, and wrapped her arms over Alastar's broad, armored shoulders in a close embrace. It happened very quickly, a spur of the moment thing, but it felt like the absolute right thing to do at the time.

"I'd be _so_ much happier knowing that you're okay." she added, more quietly now, more inflected with the emotions she was having.

It wasn't a lie: Sasha really _would _feel better if Alastar was safe at the end of all this. Those emotions came up, and she may as well use them while they're authentic. The next several moments were spent desperately hoping that this ploy would work... It _had_ to work...

"Um... Sasha?" Alastar asked, resting his own arms across Sahsa's lower back.

"Hm?"

"What if... ah... " he started, stalled, and then tried again. His voice took on a steady, in-control tone, "What if I told you I didn't 'actually' make up some excuse to get away from Rick, to be here with you?"

"What do you mean?"

Alastar broke from the embrace, hold Sasha by her shoulders at arm's length. The features of his face were hanging down, in regret and remorse, "Rick wanted me to _spy_ on you." he confessed with pained words, "He suspected Connor would... _exploit _me, like you're talking about doing. _That's_ why I'm able to be out here with you right now, because Rick put me here to do his bloody legwork for him."

"Wait a second..." in an instant, Sasha snapped into tactical assessment mode, and began scanning the streets, roofs and windows, "Are we being recorded? Or followed?"

"No, thank Lyla." Alaster assured her, shaking his head, "Rick knows you've got one mean counter-surveillance man on your team; couldn't risk 'blowing the op',so this is strictly face-to-face."

"Right, right." She couldn't be sure now. Maybe Rick sent someone to follow them without them knowing. The entire operation could be compromised, and they wouldn't even notice. Was Alastar even telling the actual truth here?

"You see? It's _that_ kind of thing,_ right_ there." He noticed Sasha's uneasiness very easily, her suddenly closed-off tendencies, especially after being so intimate before his revelation. Alastar let out a frustrated sigh, hanging his head, and continued on as he explained, "I have had it up to _here_ with being roped into Rick's damn spy shenanigans. I signed on to be his _bodyguard,_ alright?_ Not_ his accomplice, with all the lying, the mistrust, and the second-guessing..."

He looked up at Sasha then, showing her such longing, such regret, and such pain, all boiling over the surface here as he pleaded his case.

"You _have _to believe me Sasha, I don't want to be dragged down into it anymore." Alastar insisted, almost desperately, "I'd rather have more times like this, with you– I mean..."

His words sputtered to a stop and he looked away, embarrassed, realizing he let his romantic interests slip in.

Whatever doubts Sasha may have had before were gone. This was a man pulled into more than he bargained for under Rick, and wanted out of the bad deal. He needed only the chance to break away from it, and the courage to see him through. Sasha Zura, even though it was completely by accident, could give him both.

"It's okay Alastar." She told him, in a sweet comforting voice she didn't know she had, "I understand..."

Sasha moved in again, wrapping her arms around the merc's chest. The armor that encased him was cold, and hard. She found herself wanting the armor to come off, for Alastar to come out of his shell...

In some ways at least, it happened.

"So... you want Rick dead, do you?" he stated. Alastar's words came out calm, but there was a determination behind them now, a steady confidence that hadn't been there before, "Tell me what I have to do, and I'll see that it's done."

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Comments,  
Anonymous former member of Lylat Central Intelligence

It was such a nice, clean and simple operation, the assassination staged in Port Seyid, Zoness. I wish more of mine were always as neat and straightforward as this one was. Every once in a while, you might get lucky playing this crazy game, and everything lines up just the way you need it. Other times though, it takes "rigging the game" a little bit to make sure you come out of it winning, or surviving.

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Sasha Zura and Alastar Korvyn stood outside the room where Rick was, making their final preparations.

After discussion with Connor and the squad, it was decided that Alastar would give the killing blow. Rick had no reason to suspect his own bodyguard, at least for now, So Alastar would have the valuable element of surprise on his side. Sasha volunteered to act as his backup for the hit, standing back as Alastar made the kill, but ready to move in if things got out of hand.

Sasha made one last check of the narrow hallway. There was no one, as well there wouldn't be at this hour, a little past midnight. It was just her and Alastar right now.

"You ready to do this?" Sasha asked quietly.

Alaster fixed the noise suppressor to the barrel of his handgun, then responded in a grim, stony tone, "I've been ready to do this for... quite a long time."

"Okay." she said wit ha nod, and placed a hand on his armored shoulder. He was ready; Sasha could very clearly see the courage she knew Alastar had in there. He was focused now, in a conditioned self-imposed trance-like state that she'd seen soldiers sometimes assume prior to the mission. Aalastar would see this through to the end, that much she could tell.

In another couple seconds, Alastar swiped the key-card over the room's door, his suppressed blaster in hand, and entered inside.

The next few moments, with Sasha outside and alone, were silent, tense, uneasy. Sasha felt some worry boil up inside her for Alastar, thought she thought maybe she shouldn't have. Alastar had this all under control. If anything amiss happened, she was there to back him up with the superior firepower she had in the assault rifle in her hands. There was nothing to worry about–

_* Thump! *_

That was a body hitting the floor. That was the signal for Sasha, one way or another, to enter the room. She swiped a copy of Alastar's key-card, and followed inside, expecting anything...

The inside of the hotel room was quiet, almost tranquil in its stillness. Were it not for the still-warm body slumped on the floor, and Alastar holding a smoking handgun over it, there would've been nothing at all remarkable in the space.

There wasn't much time to reflect on the sentiment of the moment, the next part of the operation was the discreet disposal of Rick's body. The hallways of the hotel were too conspicuous to try getting Rick's body out that way, even this late at night, so the window was the way to go. Luckily the window for this room opened to a narrow back alley, complete with sewer access. Fletcher and Xavier were outside in the alley now, waiting for Rick's body to come down so they could send it down a manhole into the city's sewer system. Vacne and Connor held their position at the end of the alley, acting as lookouts, ready to run interference on curious passers-by if needed.

Sasha and Alastar went to work in silence, working to focus on the task at hand.

A bed sheet was used as an impromptu body bag for Rick, tied off with a sturdy rope. Sasha quietly thanked at Rick's relatively slight build, making dead corpse so much lighter and easier to handle than someone more robust. It was a simple matter for her and Alastar to tie up the bedsheet sack, move the body to the window, and lower it outside with the rope to Gavin and Anton below.

Sasha and Alaster watched from the open window, as the two soldiers took hold of the inconspicuous-seeming bundle that contained a dead body, and then lowered it quickly and quietly down into the open manhole. Once it had disappeared down, Fletcher and Xavier replaced the manhole cover, and walked away, as if nothing happened. With any luck, when Rick's body turned up, it'd appear to be nothing more than another hit-job, carried out by any number of the gangs or underworld syndicates in the city.

It was all over so fast. From door open to manhole cover closed, it couldn't have been longer than two or thee minutes. In that short span of time, they'd killed a man –a dangerous one at that– and removed any obvious trace of him, erasing him from existence entirely.

"So... It's done then." Alastar said, with a worn-out tone to his words.

The mission must've been hard on him, and Sasha could hardly blame him. The desire to be rid of Rick was there, but it was never practical for Alastar to pursue the desire until now. Even so, he probably would have preferred to terminate employment without bloodshed, but bloodshed came nonetheless.

"We'll need to get you away from here, fast, before any of Matai's enforcers start to get suspicious." Sasha reminded. Apparently her words came out flat and colorless, made numb by the situation.

"Yeah, right, of course." Alastar agreed with a vacant nod.

"You gonna be alright?" the husky asked, concerned. She placed a hand on his armored shoulder

"I will, it's just..." the merc had started a thought, but stopped it, and let out a tired sigh instead, "Yeah, I'll be fine."

Maybe he would be fine, maybe not. In either case, they had to leave and get off-planet as soon as possible. Concerned as Sasha was for Alastar's well-being, she was a practical person, a military field officer, and had to be concerned first and foremost with his immediate safety. They could discuss these other issues during the trip back, when there'd be plenty of downtime.

For now though, the two of them simply exited the room, and headed out to meet up with everyone else for the trip back to Macbeth.

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Author Notes:

And another chapter comes careening out the gate!

I deeply apologize to any/all the readers who were really hoping for some intense battle sequences here. This chapter wasn't really about that sort of thing though, much more about the intrigue and emotional shifting. There will be plenty of action later though, so don't despair yet, it's coming.

Thank you everyone who's been reading and responding to the story, I'm glad you're liking as much as you are! As always, your feedback is most welcome here.

I'll catch you all later I hope!

Note: 5/3/2012

I have removed the current 6th chapter, pending an edit/addition to the story. Very little will have changed overall. Mostly, this edit is to add a scene to help support the later action, which otherwise would seem somewhat abrupt. Thank you for understanding, and sticking with the story through this business.

Note: 5/8/2012

The new 6th chapter is now up! It doesn't "replace" the other chapter (I'll post it again later), just fits in between this chapter and the other.


	6. The Soldier and the Saleswoman

_Comments,  
Anonymous former member of Lylat Central Intelligence. _

Macbeth's Easthold Academy was –and still is by all accounts– one of the toughest institutions of higher education in all of Lylat. It was a military institution, designed to toughen the brightest young intellectuals who wanted to serve their home, joining the armed forces. It was also a place to sharpen the minds of those who were already tough, who had proven themselves as enlisted soldiers, and sought to earn a commission. Whichever background the cadets of Easthold came from, whatever their intended focus was meant to be, it was a hard, hard life during that time, one that Sasha Zura endured like all the rest.

However, there was no prejudices in Easthold against Sasha and her being Cornerian, which is one reason I believe she was able to excel in military life as far as she did. Easthold Academy was already accepting a diverse range of students from many worlds across Lylat, thus most of the students and faculty were too preoccupied with the rigors of training to hold any grudges against supposed "foreigners". Sasha was there, slogging through the training with the rest of them, so she may as well have been one of them in the minds of her academic peers at Easthold. For all intents and purposes, she certainly was.

Cadets lived their lives as regimented as the military they served in, every day planned out and scheduled minute-by-minute. It was the only way the cadets would be able to handle all they were juggling at the time. There may have been classes like a traditional university, with such commonplace subjects as economics, history, sciences, arts and literature, but it was much more than that. It was training for discipline, for time management, for tough decisions under duress, and for ingenuity under pressure.

Hard as it was though, there were times when the cadets could relax, could forget about the stresses of training and learning for a while. These were between terms, when the cadets could travel away for a while, visit family and friends...

From what I understand, for the precious little time Sasha Zura was able to have away from Easthold, a great deal of it she spent with Maya.

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_**The Soldier and the Saleswoman **_

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_Some Years Earlier_

Aller & Traynor was a chain of popular, higher-end fashion boutiques, with several locations all across Macbeth. Along with a number of competing chains, Aller & Traynor was _the _place for Macbeth residents to go to for fine clothing, jewelery, accessories, and other products. Women –and occasionally men– who felt like indulging themselves with the latest trends or timeless classics could be found at these stores, browsing, shopping, and purchasing these valued items of high-fashion.

Maya Kaido worked at one of these Aller and Traynor stores in the Downtown Wayland as a sales associate. Her keen perceptiveness, outgoing personality and upbeat demeanor made her naturally gifted at sales. At the same time though, she was also taking formal courses in Business and Retail Management at the local university. Though she may have started her career doing fashion sales, she had other, much higher ambitions.

Though Maya may have been a shrewd, enterprising woman with high aspirations, she would always make time for Sasha whenever the husky was on leave from her training at Easthold. Sasha was free so little, and for so short a time that the two of them had to make the most of it whenever they could. One of their more cherished activities together was the simple act of shopping, almost always at the same Aller & Traynor store where Maya worked. These little shopping excursions were one of the few, highly valued times when Sasha was able to let down her hair, to shed her ever-hardening shell of military rigidity, and indulge her so often unfulfilled femininity.

This was a time for Sasha to set aside the soldier for a while, and be a woman. Having a resourceful, fashion-savvy friend like Maya Kaido to help her through it was an absolute boon to boot.

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Maya and Sasha left the busy streets of downtown Wayland outside, and entered into the welcoming atmosphere of the Aller & Traynor store. Maya wore close-fitting jacket, low-cut, with matching skirt down to her knees. Sasha however came in simply wearing Easthold Academy sweatshirt and jeans. Hopefully this would change by the end of their shopping escapade.

Tracks of pop music played quietly through the background, with a mix of scents and fragrances lingering in the air, probably from the perfume section. The space was a fairly compact, medium-sized, comfortably roomy and intimate, without being overwhelmingly large like a department store. The store was filled with an assortment of clothing racks, display cases, poised mannequins, and shelves stocked full of all sorts of fashionable items: purses handbags, shoes, jewelry, accessories, and more. There were also many beauty products, scents, high-end soaps and shampoos. Everything a woman could want to pamper and treat herself to a little elegance was to be found within the walls of this Aller & Traynor boutique.

The two friends wasted little time ogling, and delved straight into their busy browsing, continuing the same bantering conversation they had when they walked in.

"I'm sorry Maya, but you would not last a _single _term of Easthold's officer training program, I know it!" Sasha insisted vehemently as they sifted through a rack of dresses.

It was somewhat glaring, how sorely Sasha Zura stuck out in the store. In her dull Easthold sweatshirt, she was an image of rigid military conformity, in a writhing sea of bold, unadulterated choices. It was a bit overwhelming, but not distressingly so: these bold and varied choices were choices she wanted to make, badly.

"Are you _kidding_ me?" Maya retorted with a scoffing laugh. "Boot camp would be a _picnic_ compared to this cut-throat crossroads of fashion and business that I work in! Give me a rifle and obstacle course _any_ day."

Maya pulled a deep-violet strapless dress from the rack, one in a shimmering satin. She held it up to Sasha, comparing the fabric color to her fur tone.

"Oh sure, it's boot camp, like all the enlisted soldiers go through." Sasha began with a nonchalant shrug, "_But... o_n top of boot camp, the cadets also go through the same undergraduate schooling of a regular university, only we're held to even _higher _standards. So maybe you can make it through boot-camp, but once you're off the obstacle course, all tired and drained, can you still go to class, focus on the material, and study your eyeballs out?"

"Okay, you got me there Sash..." Maya finally conceded, while the two continued through the store, checking other items. "Still, I've still got to watch my back at other crucial points, like my _boss _for example."

"What's wrong with your boss?" Sasha asked.

"The store manager has been getting suspicious of me lately, nervous about how well I've been handling things here. He's insecure now, nervous about looking bad, and being replaced, by _me _of all people!" the dark feline exclaimed with a sassy, almost sarcastic laugh, "I know for a fact that he is a hairsbreadth away from firing me, all so he can keep his position safe from the supposed threat I present to him."

It seemed strange, that Maya would discuss such a precarious employment situation in a casual, matter-of-fact tone like she was. Wasn't she taking the risk seriously? Sasha needed to know more, and mentioned as such, "You don't seem all that worried about it, though."

"_That's _because I've already jumped up the next wrung of the ladder, to the Aller & Traynor regional manager." Maya explained, a sly, knowing look coming across her feline features, "A couple months back, the store was getting hit with some losses pretty bad, so bad that the regional manager stepped in. She asked for possible recommendations, met with each store employee individually to get their story and insights. Long story short: the regional manager liked my ideas, had them implemented for the store, and now we're back up and profiting again. Now, I've got that little nugget to back me up. If my boss so much as _threatens _to discharge me without a good reason, he'll have some hell to pay with _his_ boss."

"Sound's like you've got everything buttoned up with that." Sasha said, exhaling a deep sigh of relief, glad that her good friend was going to be okay.

"You'd think so, but _no.._." Maya said, shaking her head, but still surprisingly cheery and lighthearted about it all, "The store manager is still paranoid over me, constantly on my back now, watching, looking for any 'legitimate' excuse to get rid of me. It's all under control though, he's on defense now. The only thing _I_ have to do is show him up, prove his manufactured suspicions wrong at every turn, and beat him to the punch whenever he tries something underhanded."

Maya had a devious, playful look about her when she talked business like that. She seemed almost like a hunter, stalking the prey, _toying _with her opposition, even. There was no doubt in Sasha mind at that point that her friend would go into business. She was so well-suited to play these little games, to manipulate her way through internal obstacles, and still provide exemplary external service.

"But that's enough about that." Maya dismissed the topic with a wave of her hand, "Today is for _you,_ Sasha. It's a time to get you out of that stuffy uniform, and into something that will show off the _gorgeous _girl I know is in there." the cat gave her a sincere smile, not the sales smile, the _real _one.

Sasha felt herself go flush at that moment, to hear her friend –her secret crush– tell her that. Sasha knew she was right, but she was self-conscious about it sometimes. All that time in her younger high-school years, isolated from her estranged peers. Easthold was a step up –at least she was tolerated there– but the cadets were so laser-focused on completing their training, so dedicated to their goals that they didn't have much else on their mind. Sasha knew this for a fact, that's how _she _felt when she was there. There was little time or use for such superficial niceties in the military.

With Maya though, it was different. The 'superficial niceties' _meant _something, they carried an unseen weight and meaning. One's beauty became an artistic and design statement, which that could be exhibited and appreciated wherever one went, and which also was deeply personal, individual. It was also something Sasha hadn't paid much attention to in recent years, which was why she was very glad to have Maya Kaido at her side helping her navigate through it all. The husky might've been able do the shopping thing on her own, but it would've been lonely, empty, and aimless. Without someone to guide her through, someone she could trust to bounce ideas and opinions off of, Sasha would've been flying blind, overwhelmed by so many choices, without the knowledge or experience to know the poor choices from the good ones.

After about an hour or so spent gathering many, many items and articles of fine clothing, the time came to try them out. All the new clothes would be nice, but there was more to it than just that. The prospect of her and Maya, alone in the store's changing rooms, together; it excited Sasha. Maybe today would be the day she could _finally_ tell Maya how she felt about her, how she ached to be far more than just friends with–

No. Not yet, not while Maya's boss was hounding her for weakness, for 'flaws' to exploit against her. Even if Maya would've been fine with Sasha being lesbian, with knowing the truth, Sasha wouldn't risk even the hint of lesbianism compromise her friend in her ongoing battle with management. The pent-up feelings may have waited years, but if it meant the difference between Maya being successful or out of a job, then Sasha's feelings could wait a little longer, until the storm blew over.

For the time being however, there were armfuls of dresses, blouses, skirts, pants, shirts, all manner of shoes and other outfits to try out.

It was difficult to know for sure how long Sasha and Maya spent in the dressing rooms of the Aller & Traynor store, trying on and assessing so many different and varied outfits. It was exciting for Sasha, being able to see so many possible looks that she could present. It was also a kind of experiment, a trial-and-error process of elimination to narrow down which styles, colors, and materials best complimented Sasha, and which ones simply didn't work with her.

For each prospective outfit, the procedure was pretty much the same: take the outfit into the privacy of the changing boot, change into it, exit the changing booth to examine the results in the mirrors, and ask for the expert opinion of Maya Kaido herself. Some outfits Sasha liked, some she didn't, and some just seemed a little awkward or garish. It wasn't always as cut-and-dried as that though, a lot of this was also an experiment of subjectivity, for Sasha to decide what _she _liked seeing on her. Nonetheless, after rotating through countless outfits, some patterns began to emerge. Darker colors tended to compliment Sasha's pale gold and cream fur tone best, along with certain bright, vivid colors as well. Whites and pale colors were generally tricky to make work on Sasha, but there were a few items where they could fit.

Among her personal tastes, Sasha found a particular liking of intricate patterns, especially lace. Nowhere was this more prevalent than in stockings and hosiery, where the dark, interweaving patterns of the lacy stockings could play on the pale golden sheen of her shapely legs. Seeing this on her made her feel... special, somehow; valuable, precious even. Combine this with a tasteful skirt or dress, a good pair of shoes, and at least in Sasha's mind, it made the basis of an ideal outfit to suit her.

This was one such outfit Sasha was wearing now to show off to Maya. She came out of the changing booth wearing a not-quite-knee-length dark blue and green plaid patterned skirt with a floral lace trimming, over a a pair of sheer stockings and close-fitting heel-boots, and had a white sleeveless blouse for her top. All that was needed was a few accessories –a big belt, a couple bracelets, perhaps something for her neck– and the look would be one of Sasha's absolute favorites that she'd tried so far.

Maya liked the outfit too, and praised it, but there seemed to be something else on the cat's mind. What could it be? Was there something truly wrong that she wasn't telling Sasha?

In a moment, these doubts were dispelled.

"I've got something _very_ special for you this time..." and with that sly smile of hers, Maya held out a black lacy bra and a matching lace thong for Sasha. "Here, try these."

"Here?" the husky asked, stunned, "Now?"

Suddenly nervous, as more than a little embarrassed, Sasha accepted the provocative lingerie, and examined them more closely. The thong-style panties were _startlingly_ revealing, and would just barely cover the parts, down to less than a centimeter-wide strip in the back. The bra was just as provocative, with only the nipples covered completely, and everywhere else on the little triangles dominated by the lace pattern. Sasha had never worn anything quite as openly risqué in her life, especially not in front of Maya...

"Why not?" Maya asked with a little giggle, amused by her suddenly friend, "What have _you_ got to be embarrassed about? It's just me here, and I want you to see your sexy side."

And with that, the dark feline held onto Sasha's shoulders, eliciting a sudden shiver through the husky, and Maya led her back to the changing booth. When they were both there, Maya's words took on a tone of concern, and understanding, "It's okay if you don't want to do it Sasha, I won't force you–"

"No..." Sasha interrupted, drawing on some sudden conviction, "I'll do it."

If Sasha Zura could conquer the relentless rigors of military training, the pain and utter exhaustion, the endless self-doubt, who was she to be intimidated by such meager things as racy lingerie? It was only fabric– a little, dainty, _object_.

"Okay." Maya replied with a nod and understanding smile, then gently closed the changing booth door

Sasha was alone in the little booth now, and she could not have possibly felt any more nervous.

Sure, the lingerie was just fabric, but beyond that –in the realm of fashion– such a _'little dainty object'_ was a powerful statement. It said, _'I'm hot, I'm sexy, and I'm not afraid to show it off.' _It was the richest, most succulent kind of eye-candy one could indulge in short of complete nudity. It exposed the wearer entirely, revealing that which lay beneath...

Sasha found herself short of breath, her heart pounding. It was because Maya was out there. It was because of the hidden feelings she'd been holding back for so long. This shouldn't have been as huge a concern for Sasha as she was making it. Maya was straight: she wouldn't be aroused or made nervous by Sasha in provocative lingerie like Sasha would be seeing Maya that way. She was just experimenting, showing off, seeing how such a racy, sexy look would work for her, nothing more.

This was enough self-reassurance for Sasha, and she began to remove the outwit she was wearing. Piece by piece, the husky began to strip away the layers –blouse, shoes, skirt and hosiery until she was down to her plain, utilitarian underwear. These too came off now, and left Sasha completely nude.

There was a mirror in the booth, and the husky took a moment to look up and check her herself in it. Seeing herself naked was certainly not new to Sasha, but taking time to examine and really scrutinize herself was. There simply wasn't the time or need to do so during academy life, but now...

The girl Sasha in the mirror looked so closed-off, so vulnerable. She was nervous, frightened, hunched over in a shrunken, shy stance. Her arms were holding herself, and her legs pressed together. There was more to this girl however. Her legs and arms had some muscle tone to them, they were strong, powerful, but not alarmingly so. This girl was no longer the skinny, weak thing she was before military training, she was becoming something else entirely.

Sasha took a deep breath, and forced herself open, into a more self-assured pose, planting her feet firmly on the ground and bracing her hands on her hips. The husky's core was trim and well-defined, her hips had shape to them –a sturdy, vigorous shape. Her chest had filled out considerably, mostly due to the underlying muscles that gave her bosom a boost. However, what Sasha saw more than anything else inside that girl in the mirror– not girl, _Woman_– was Confidence.

Seeing this, seeing her own strength reflected in that mirror, Sasha felt more of that confidence feed itself inside her, washing away those previous anxieties. There was a truly strong woman here, not simply a vain or shallowly prideful one. This was someone who need-not be afraid of _anything;_ not her enemies, not the opinions of detractors, not even the implications of provocative risqué lingerie.

Feeling more empowered than ever before, Sasha slipped herself into lacy black thong, and secured the matching bra over her breasts. When that was done, she evaluated the results in the mirror in front of her, and found she looked all the more stunning for it. The dark, fine patterns of the lace stood out and complimented her soft, pale golden fur, all while showcasing Sasha's toned, confident body. The look was provocative, yet still playful. It teased, indulged, but held back just enough to leave the viewer wanting more, and it still respected what was shown.

Sasha absolutely loved it...

With a self-assured swagger to her step, the husky sauntered her way out of the changing booth, where Maya was waiting for her.

The cat was stunned by the sight of Sasha, her expression locked in slack-jawed awe at what she saw. The scantily-clad husky gave Maya a playful smile and wink, and struck a sexy pose for her friend. Part of Sasha was proud that she could amaze her friend –her longtime secret crush– into a catatonic stupor like this, and with only her looks. It made her feel a certain sense of power; that she was, at least for the moment, the one on the dominant side of this relationship. It felt _good_.

"Well?" Sasha asked, her voice dripping with suggestive undertones, "What do you think?"

"Oh... _wow... _I..." Maya finally stammered out, shifting uncomfortably, fumbling something with her hands. Was she flustered at seeing her good friend Sasha exposed like this, and that she was _relishing _in it? Sasha hoped so. It was so cute and endearing to see Maya put on defense for once, "You have such an _amazing_ physique, Sasha. I... I never knew!"

"What can I say?" the husky responded with a fun giggle, the put herself in a mock-flexing pose, "Easthold's physical fitness regimen has some benefits, I guess."

"Yeah, no kidding." Maya agreed, getting a better hold of herself now, "Seriously though, you _need_ to show this off more, and get out of that stuffy uniform more often."

If things went well for Sasha, someday she would show off more for Maya, and more... _much _more. Until that time came however, Sasha would have to restrict herself to this kind of playful 'mock teasing'. Though she enjoyed it, playing at sexiness for Maya, it was secretly painful, to deny her true feelings, to make a falseness out of it.

Sasha was strong enough to endure it though, she would have to be.

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Author notes:

Aaaaaaaand this is what I was cooking up as the "replacement chapter." After some consideration, I decided that adding a kind of interim chapter, showcasing Sasha and Maya's past friendship, would be helpful and insightful. I hope it has, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.

Let me know what you guys and gals think! because as always, your feedback is most welcome here.


	7. Heartfelt Homecoming

Author Note:

In case anyone isn't aware, this is technically a reposting of a chapter I took down earlier. I posted a "new" chapter just prior to this one, and If you hadn't read it yet, then I very much highly suggest you go back and read it, now, this second. Otherwise, enjoy!

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For the Zoness mission, the party of Connor Griffon, Sasha Zura and her squad traveled back to Macbeth via civilian passenger cruiser, same as when they arrived. There was no major rush, no need for precision deployment, and the traveling population aboard the ship provided excellent cover to remain inconspicuous and incognito. Thus, civilian public transport was more than sufficient to suit their needs for the mission.

Public transport that traveled _to _Zoness carried mainly relief workers: charity volunteers, determined idealists who felt for the world's hardships, and wished to help set it right, or at least ease the heavy burden of the world. That was what the party had encountered before.

Those who traveled _away _from Zoness during this troubled time were another sort altogether: refugees. A great many of those that could, chose to leave Zoness in this most troubled time, to traveling off-world to wait until the deadly civil unrest blew over and settled. They were weary bunch by-and-large, not entirely certain about what they'll do next, but they were also somewhat relieved to leave the unbearable, deadly tension of Zoness behind...

Sasha could only wish she felt even that small shred of comfort to leave Zoness for Macbeth. With the mission over, and the return home looming ahead of her, Sasha Zura found her thoughts and feelings occupied by that which she'd left behind, and must now confront again when she arrived: Maya Kaido.

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_**The Heartfelt Homecoming**_

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How could Sasha have been so stupid, so utterly and completely thoughtless? Maya was going through what must have been one of the toughest, most stressful times of her entire life. She had only _just_ broken off her relationship with Evan Werhner, the boyfriend Maya had hoped she could finally commit to and settle down with, and that breakup was _anything _but smooth. She was in a state of near total misery, and what did her best friend Sasha do? Offer her comfort? Help her through this troubling time. _No._ She succumbed to her long-time lustful feelings, and kissed Maya full on the lips, springing a whole other can of worms onto her plate that she did _not _need at that time.

Sasha ought to have known better. She ought to have had more control of herself then. _That's_ what Maya needed at the time: someone grounded, someone steady and stable who she could count on to be there for her. Maya did _not _need a lusty flake so easily overwhelmed by pent-up sexual desires, _especially_ when she wasn't even aware Sasha had those desires...

This was bad. This was very, very bad. That kiss from nowhere had _completely_ overstepped the bounds of their friendship, and could so very easily destroy it. What could Sasha tell her when she got back? How was she going to explain to Maya all those years of silent longing, and doing nothing? Was there _anything _that could be done to salvage it now?

It didn't seem like it, not from what she could tell...

Sasha had made herself alone with these thoughts, and confined herself inside her cabin's small, cramped bathroom. There was barely enough room in there for the required bathroom facilities, let alone Sasha herself. The husky wasn't wearing her 'mercenary' gear anymore; that had been stored away somewhere in the ship's cargo hold, besides which, combat gear would draw far too much attention among the passengers and crew. Instead, in order to better blend with the rest of the passengers, she wore a simple outfit of jeans, a tight-fitting lower cut shirt, and a tasteful vest made of roughly equal parts synthetic leather and denim. Still, Sasha could've been wearing a full set of power armor, and still feel utterly helpless at that moment.

There was no real sense of time in that minuscule shipboard cabin bathroom. All that was there was the constant humming rhythm of ship systems, and the overbearing thoughts that Sasha was having about her close friend, driving all other activity from her mind. After some indeterminate length of time, this continuous cycle of worrying and brooding feelings was finally interrupted, by a series of insistent pangs from her stomach, halting her conscious thoughts in their tracks...

Sasha reflexively clasped her stomach at the sudden pain, and tried to remember when her last meal was. Perhaps it was sometime way back on Zoness? How many hours ago was that, exactly?

The Husky cringed again as another hunger pang cried out insider her, and took her thoughts away.

That settled it for her. If her own body's needs and protests were the only indicator that Sasha finally paid any attention which informed her that time had passed was, then that was probably as good a signal as any to get out, and get something to eat. The worrisome thoughts would still be there when she got back, when her body was done protesting for nourishment.

Sasha didn't have anything to eat in her cabin, so she simply stepped out into the simple corridor outside her cabin, and did her best to remember where the ship's cafeteria was. It should've been somewhere in the forward section, a deck or two up–

There was someone approaching her through the corridor: it was Alastar, walking toward the husky at a brisk, restless pace. Like Sasha, he too was no longer in his combat gear, forgoing his armor for a pair of brown cargo pants, and a gray hooded sweatshirt that he wore unzipped, showing the dull yellow t-shirt he had underneath.

"Hey Sasha!" the merc greeted, his voice and stance were nearly bouncing with expectation.

"Oh, hello Alastar." the husky responded halfheartedly, "I'm just heading out to grab some food."

"Maybe I could join you then, if it's alright with you." Alastar Suggested, coming close alongside her.

"I... um..." Sasha stammered. She didn't quite know how to respond. Part of her wanted to go along with him, if for no other reason than to make things less awkward. Another part just wanted to be left alone for a while, to sink away and be invisible for a bit.

In her conflicting wants and indecision, Sasha found she was fidgeting, and had gently recoiled from Alastar when he tried to hold her by her exposed shoulders. The merc picked up on her hesitation immediately, and his demeanor changed.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, genuinely concerned for her, "You seem a little... distracted?"

"I'm fine." Sasha lied, looking away.

"No, you are most absolutely _not_ fine." Alastar rebuked as he shook his head slowly, . He wasn't buying it, and why should he have? It was a terrible lie anyway, "What's wrong Sasha? You can tell me."

"I... I really don't think I can." If he wouldn't take that hint, then maybe she could at least present the problem as something he couldn't help with. By all accounts, there probably wasn't much Alastar _could _do to alleviate the Maya situation, even if he wanted to.

"Try me." the merc implored, with such earnest concern. If they're previous interactions were any indication, Alastar was hardly a convincing liar, so his concern _must _have been genuine. And now, seeing Sasha so worried and nervous, he wasn't going to let it go until he knew what was going on...

Fine.

With a defeated sigh, Sasha at last relented, and looked at the merc square in the eye, "I can trust you, right?"

"Of course you can." Alastar affirmed with a warming smile.

"Come on inside then, and I'll try to explain." she invited, motioning toward the cabin door behind her.

"Fair enough." he agreed with a curt nod.

If they simply _had _to talk about the sensitive Maya situation, then she'd rather do it somewhere private, as away from prying eyes and ears as she could. Once the two of them were inside, and the cabin door closed, Sasha took a moment to ready herself before beginning.

"Well... I don't know how else I can start this off so..." it took her a few more nervous seconds to form the words, and then to let them out, "I'm... lesbian."

"You're...?" There was a brief moment of stillness in Alastar at the confession, just a blank, uncertain gaping stare at her. Then look which seemed almost like fear dawned on him, as if he suddenly realized something horrible, "Oh... I see... I'll just be ah... leaving... then..."

He turned around and began to exit the cabin, head hung low, shoulders stooped, feet dragging. He looked so downtrodden, humiliated, but trying his best not to show it.

"No, Alastar _wait!_ Let me explain–"

"Look, I _get _it: you're _not_ actually into me." Alastar grumbled over his shoulder with a bitter sigh, "You played yourself up liking me for your little mission back there, to get me to do what you wanted, and now you want me to back off. You want to set me down easy, so you don't hurt my feelings or anything, so you say to me that you're _"lesbian"_. Message received, Sasha: I'm backing off, and I'm getting out of your face." and he continued on his cynical way.

No, that wasn't it at all! Alastar had gotten everything wrong, but he was about to walk out on her, pulled away by his bitter cynicism. Sasha needed to do something, and needed to do it quick...

Just as Alastar reached out to open the cabin door, Sasha grabbed his other hand and twisted the merc's arm up, forcing him to turn around and face her. The look he had on his face was something between wide-eyed confusion, and anger.

"Sasha wha–?"

Sasha grabbed Alastar by his neck to pull him in, and forced her lips against his in a desperate kiss. The sudden lip-lock out of nowhere stopped whatever he was going to say, whatever he planned on doing, and whatever he might've been thinking if his resulting stupor was any indicator.

After a few moments, she backed off from Alastar, and took on a much sterner demeanor, like she was addressing an inferior soldier, "_Now_ will you let me explain?"

Alastar was completely speechless, baffled by the kiss, and the sudden assertive command backing up Sasha's words. All he could do in response for the moment was to give her a weak, affirmative nod.

"Good. Firstly, I really _am _lesbian." she insisted, "I'm not simply lying for your sake."

"Then... why did you just–"

"_Shut up._" Sasha cut him off sharply, and continued right along, "Secondly, I have a really close friend on Macbeth, one of a very small few that I have. We've been close friends for a very long while, and I may have completely shattered our friendship before this mission. So now, I have all _that _to go home to: _that's _what's wrong!"

"How did that happen?" Alastar manages to reply, some life beginning to return to him.

"She didn't know I was lesbian, that I was... _that_ way for girls. I'd kept it secret from her for all the years we'd known each other, for her sake. Then, just before this mission, she was going through a really tough time: a messy breakup that really, really upset her. In the middle of all that, when I should've been a good friend, I fucking kissed her, tongue and everything!" There was anger coming through Sasha's words. Most of it though was directed at herself more than anything else, "Of all the times I could've _finally_ revealed my true feelings for her, I had to go and do it at the _worst _possible time, in the _worst _possible way!"

"Oh... _damn..._" the merc replied in a meek voice, scratching the back of his neck, trying to look anywhere else besides at Sasha. Poor Alastar couldn't have possibly been more uncomfortable in that moment if he tried. He'd just humiliated himself with major assumptions proven wrong, _twice, _"I'm so sorry, I didn't–"

"I don't know what to do, Alastar." Sasha admitted, rolling over his words again. There was a desperation to her now, a absolute need that she hadn't felt so strongly in her life, "I've never been in this kind of situation before, and I don't have anyone I can go to for guidance to help me through it."

She turned to Alastar with a pleading look, and quietly hoped to herself those weren't tears welling up in her eyes. Just because Sasha was using him as a kind of "shoulder to cry on" didn't mean she wanted to _actually _break down in crying. The bewildered merc was already knee-deep in a puddle of awkward as it was, she didn't want to add to it if she could help it.

"Well... hmm... How long have you and your friend known each other?" Alastar asked. He seemed a little emotionally detached now, but he _was _concerned for her, and that was enough for Sasha to latch onto.

"Early high school years, about seven years now." the husky answered, remembering their first meeting in the school's science lab, how the dark feline femme was so upbeat and alive, "We've been the closest of friends since we first met, shortly after I first moved from Corneria to Macbeth. We were always there for each other before, but this is a major fucking screw-up from me, and I don't know if I can pull through this."

Alastar spent a few thoughtful moments in silence, probably thinking of what to say next. Frankly, Sasha was somewhat amazed that he was giving as much of his attention to this as he was. He didn't just reject her out-of-hand, or scold her for how wrong it was for her to like women, he just went with it. Alastar Korvyn, despite his feelings for Sasha having been dashed to the ground not moments earlier, was again demonstrating his deep, unfaltering compassion. Or perhaps he was doing this _because _of those very same feelings...

"Your friendship seems to me like it's pretty strong, _very_ strong, and I think you may be underestimating just how tight your bond is." Alastar told her, his stability and thoughtfulness being a welcome reassurance for Sasha, "If she's as true a friend as I'm speculating she is, then I'm sure she'll accept your lesbianism. Any true friend wouldn't hold something like that against you. And who knows? She may even indulge the desires you have for her."

"I don't know, my desires for her are really, _really_ intense..." Sasha said, feeling herself flush a little in her face, "Like, you know how guys ogle, have raunchy sexual fantasies, and do incredibly stupid things when lusty love takes over?"

"Yeah, I suppose." Alastar replied with a little shrug.

"That's pretty much how I am for other girls, and Maya especially."

"Maya? Is that her name?" He asked.

Sasha hadn't even told him her name? "Yes." she admitted, a little embarrassed that she'd forgotten about it.

"It's a very pretty name."

"Goes with her pretty face." Sasha said with a giggle, "Hold on..."

She took out her personal comm, brought up a picture of Maya –one where the dark feline displayed her confident, slightly suggestive smile– and showed it to Alastar.

"She _is _a fine looking feline, I'll give her that." he agreed, adding a small chuckle.

"I'm afraid I'll lose her, that I'll lose our friendship after making such a huge screw-up." Sasha said in a worried tone. Fear was coming back to her voice now, making her words waver and tremble in her uncertainty, "Sure, Maya might be able to accept me being lesbian, but she's very much straight, likes guys, has had sex with more guys than I can count. And then there's the fact that, I steamrolled _my_ stupid hidden lusty wants over her when she was at her worst, when I _should_ have been a good friend, and comforted her through the messy breakup..." the husky's voice dropped to a low, tortured whisper now, and her head dropped low, "It's all my fault."

"What's your fault, exactly?" Alastar asked, still as stable and in-control as ever, "Did something happen?"

"I was called away on this mission literally _right_ after that dumb kiss." Sasha confessed, through such pained words, "I didn't have time to try and explain things. I just... _abandoned_ Maya back there, in her pit of despair, without even saying a proper goodbye."

"Have you tried contacting her since then?"

"No..." she answered, her voice weak and frail now. It was so unlike her, unlike the leader she was supposed to be as a military officer, unlike the friend she ought to have been like, "God, I'm such a _horrible_ person."

"No, Sasha, you're not..." Alastar rebuked, holding her up by her shoulders, "And furthermore, I believe you are being _far_ too hard on yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... you don't _know_ for sure that your kiss is having the ill-effects on your Maya friend you think it is." he explained, "For all we know, that sudden kiss could've even _helped _Maya through her despair, knowing that you care for her as deeply as you do."

"You think so?" Sasha asked, a glimmer of hope in her words now. She hadn't thought of the situation that way. It could make sense, but still, she had her doubts...

"It's possible, but there's only one way to know." Alastar's words now were full of determination, of that confidence Sasha had seen only a small glimpse of before, "You _have _to get in contact with her, and find out for sure."

"But, what if she rejects me for what I am, for what I've done to her?" the husky asked, dreading the other outcomes, and how they may play out. "I'm just... so afraid."

"But what if you do nothing, and abandon Maya to whatever fate may come? If you break away from her, or keep confining your feelings, I can promise you will spend an _incredibly_ long time in remorse, constantly wondering 'what if?', always regretting not trying to see this through." the merc's words were a grim warning, from prior experience? Did he have an old regret, an experience he was trying to spare Sasha from? It might've explained his emotional cynicism earlier... "Even if it turns out badly, you will have at least _tried,_ and you can pick up with a fresh start knowing you did everything you could. But... if it goes well, then..." Alastar lifted a hand up to caress Sasha's cheek, and gently wiped away a tear that had burst free from her eye, "There's really no limit on how far it might go."

"Thank you, Alastar." she wrapped her arms around the merc, holding him close in a tight embrace. His armor was gone now, he'd shed his shell, and now she could feel the strength in his heart, in his core. She was so much more grateful than her words could possibly convey, grateful that she was able to borrow some of Alastar's strength, his underlying confidence and compassion that formed the very center of his being, despite how much he underplayed it. "I'll contact Maya as soon as we touch down on Macbeth."

"I'm... glad for you." he said quietly as he held Sasha in his arms.

In that moment, Sasha's hunger pangs tore at her again, back with a mighty vengeance after being ignored for so long. She broke away from Alastar's embrace, happier, but now all-too aware of her neglected hunger needs.

"But in the meantime, I'll to take you up on that offer to go out for something to eat." Sasha suggested to him, with a coy little smile on her face.

"Of course!" Alastar agreed, now with more enthusiasm. And the two of them left in search of that much-needed food.

He seemed happier now, seeing Sasha happy, and it was a good fit for him. Still she couldn't help but notice the slight underpinning of disappointment to Alastar, a disappointment he worked so hard to hide. He must've thought he'd found someone he could like in Sasha –maybe even love– only to have those hopes shattered by Sasha's attraction to women instead of men. She'd felt guilty about her lesbianism before, but never quite like this; to hurt someone she cared so very much about now...

Somewhere in her thoughts, Sasha Zura promised that she'd make it up to Alastar sometime, somehow. He deserved that much, at the very least.

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Comments,  
Anonymous former member of Lylat Central Intelligence.

I wasn't around when Sasha met up with Maya after the return trip to Macbeth. I had to hear about it third-hand, and what I _did_ hear was sketchy at best, no details or anything. What Iknow for sure is this: that moment in Sasha's life fundamentally changed her from that point forward. It helped to make her into what she became later.

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Sasha had sent a text message to Maya almost the instant she landed at Wayland spaceport. Since she couldn't quite bring herself to speak, a text was perfectly fine for the moment. Maya's response was almost immediate, but terse. All she said was that she'd meet Sasha at the spaceport, and that they'd talk.

So, Sasha waited for her...

The terminals at the Wayland Central Spaceport were always busy. There was always an arrival or departure occurring, even in the late night when they arrived back on Macbeth. This meant there were always people moving: coming or going. Those that stayed put were mainly the people who worked in the spaceport, in the shops, restaurants or other facilities. Sometimes there were shoppers in the stores, or customers at the restaurants, but they too would leave eventually, once they were satisfied.

Sasha Zura was sitting alone, on a bench in the terminal, where she had a clear view of the entrance, and continued her waiting...

She may have been empowered by Alastar's earlier encouragement, but she was still nervous, very much so. It was like all the pent up tension Sasha had toward Maya for all those years was distilling down into these moments, concentrating more and more with each passing minute she waited. She felt so many things: anticipation, giddiness, fear, nervousness, but worst of all was the tension, like there was a pressure building up inside her, a painful pressure, one which felt as if it may explode at any second...

Sasha had wanted Alastar to stay with her until Maya came –he said he would have stayed too– but he had to leave. Alastar had to "arrange a few things with Connor" he said, and the merc also made sure to note that this was between her and Maya, and that he really shouldn't be involved at this most sensitive point. He was probably right, but still, it wasn't much comfort, sitting there in the spaceport terminal, alone, waiting, aching inside. The minutes seemed to stretch on for hours and hours...

Sasha continued waiting, watching the people as they entered the terminal, looking for any sign of that dark feline. Every once in a while, she'd see one that might've been Maya, only to be struck down with disappointment when it wasn't. It only made the continuing waiting that much more unbearable.

Soon enough, she found herself just wanting this whole thing to finally be over, one way or another.

Then, just as Sasha was resigning herself to that cynical mindset, a dark-furred feline woman stepped through the doors into the terminal building. Sasha felt her heart begin to accelerate as she examined the features: white highlights, gorgeous physique, beautiful face... That was Maya! She finally made it!... but she looked nervous, her features drawn down in a look of uncertainty, her normally smooth strutting walk slowed to an uneasy shuffling pace.

Sasha nearly jumped right off the bench, and walked up to Maya, waving her arm in the air to get her attention. The husky smiled, but she had to force it, so great was the pressure she felt inside her. Maya saw her, and returned the wave and forced smile as Sasha closed in on her, fast.

When the two of them came face to face however, there was something unsettling. Maya just looked at Sasha, and in a cold emotionless voice said, "Let's walk."

What did that mean? Was she angry?

A little confused, and suddenly worried, Sasha simply gave the feline a small nod. The two of them quietly exited the spaceport terminal into the cool night of Wayland, Macbeth. The streets outside were still active, but much less-so in the dead of night hanging over the area. Maya an Sasha simply walked side-by-side down the sidewalk outside, into the quiet darkness...

The pressure and worry Sasha had been feeling quickly built up again, a _lot_. What did this all mean? Why was Maya so cold in her words? Where was she leading them? Was she mad at her? Sad? Disappointed? All the emotions contained inside her were cramped, uncomfortable, jammed, painful, tense... She just couldn't take it anymore!

Then, the pressure in Sasha burst out.

Everything went fast now. Sasha's stored emotions all erupted simultaneously, and she tried to say a thousand different things to her dear friend, all at once. The husky's voice was desperate, frantic, humiliated, apologetic, and fast. "Maya I'm so sorry– I didn't mean to hurt– you have to let me explain–" Sasha's words all tumbled over top each other, like a verbal stampede, "I mean– I just– ever since we– I've always– I should've been–

Then everything stopped.

Sasha found that something had blocked her mouth from speaking. Maya... it was Maya's lips, locked with Sasha's. The feline's soft hands were holding onto the sides of Sasha's head, supporting herself as she pressed in with harder with the kiss, slipping her tongue into the husky's speechless mouth.

A warmth rushed through Sasha so fast, she felt like she was on fire, but it was such a wondrous fire; a hot flame of passion, of life. All of the dreaded emotions Sasha had been feeling suddenly burned away in the fire. Despair turned to joyful surprise, petrifying fear into absolute bliss, guilty doubt into such deep desire...

Sasha Gasped Maya by her waist and hips, and pulled the feline's perfect body close against her own. She responded to the kiss, sending her own tongue into Maya's mouth. Their tongues writhed against each other's, locked together in a fierce oral duel. They even exchanged a few moans of pleasure amidst the intensity of the kiss.

After some time, Maya released herself from the kiss she started. Both of them were panting, taking their breaths in deep heaving gasps. For Sasha though, the sheer emotional whiplash of the moment was just too much. It was the most powerful storm of raw feeling she had ever been caught in. Both the husky's eyes burst with her tears and ran down her face, and her breathing had broken down to a series of sporadic, uncontrolled sobs that made her body tremble and shake. Sasha would have fallen to her knees right then if Maya wasn't there, holding onto her, supporting her.

"Sasha... shut up." Maya whispered, through a voice just as affected as Sasha was, "_I _should be apologizing to _you._"

Sasha tried to reply, tried to say something to her– anything at all. The words didn't come though, so overwhelmed she still was by the sudden explosion of emotions inside her.

At this, Maya continued to fill the air with words of her own, "I should have seen the signs from the very start, how you'd always act around me, but I was so selfish, so self-absorbed that I missed _everything._ Looking back, it all makes sense now, but I should've known it from the beginning..." the cat's voice dropped to to an astonished, pleading whisper, "All these _years,_ Sasha. Why didn't you _say _anything to me?"

At being questioned directly, the husky managed to cobble together enough words to build an answer for Maya, however shaky and unstable those words were, "I... I always meant to, eventually, but... I was scared. You were the one good friend I had, and I didn't want to lose you."

"But during that time, when you were having your crush on me... It must've been just _miserable _for you."

Sasha finally found her words now: words she had wanted to say to Maya Kaido for so many years, but couldn't for fear of the consequences. Those consciousness now held no power over Sasha Zura, and she was free to lay out the full depth of everything, "Every time I was near you, ever since we first met, I felt this... _warmth_ heat up inside me, some kind wonderful, comforting heat that I'd never known in my life. In this crazy, cold, unfeeling world, I felt like I could actually be _happy_ around you, that I didn't need to be afraid." Sasha felt herself blush, and begin to heat up inside her hips. She no longer felt fear at these feelings, but only pure bliss, and desire, with the confidence to say so, "But also... every time you were in a swimsuit, or undressed around me, I would get _so_ crazy aroused... I wanted to– I kept... _stripping _you down in my mind. I imagined doing... _dirty_ things with you, so many dirty things. I had to keep a leash on it though, I had to keep those thoughts and desires in check. It hurt to do that, to know I couldn't do _anything _with those desires..." She trailed off, nearly breaking into tears again as she remembered.

"God, Sasha. I am _so_ sorry." Maya was nothing short of astonished, seeing her close friend let everything down like that. She'd always seen Sasha as such a stable, stoic figure, naturally suited to the military career she was pursuing. Little did she know that Sasha Zura was simply clamping the lid down on the intense feelings that she'd always had, "I wish I'd known..."

"But it's okay now, Maya." Sasha pulled her into a close, tender embrace, "I forgive you."

"No, Sasha. That simply is _not_ good enough for you, for all the pain I put you through." Maya broke away from the husky, looking at her with such earnest determination, "I _have _to make it up to you, and I _intend _to."

"But... what should we do then?" This was more than Sasha was expecting, much more. It was optimistic at best that Maya would even _accept _her lesbianism, let alone embrace it as fully as she seemed to be. This alone was already _more _than enough for her.

"For starters, how about we go on our first date, as a couple? Maybe a dinner somewhere nice, just the two of us." the dark feline suggested. "After that though... well..." Maya trailed off, giving Sasha a suggestive smile, batting her eyes, and took a playful, teasing look about her.

Sasha quickly realized what she meant: sex, and she went flush in a wave of lustful feelings rushed over her. Without thinking, the husky blushed with a nervous smile, and tried to return the look as best she could.

"Aw, look at you!" Maya said with a fun little giggle, like she find Sasha's shyness and inexperience cute?

The husky found herself feeling the hot tenderness of arousal rush through her again. Her heart pounded again, and some parts of her trembled, but it was a happy rhythm. Her breathing came in deep slow breaths, and made her speech stammer out, "Does that mean... you know... you and I...?" they were such hopeful words, longing words, words _full _of desire...

Maya leaned forward, and kissed Sasha on her cheek, then whispered with such intimacy, "For you, Sasha, I will go with you as far as you want to."

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Author Notes:

Yes! The Romantic drama and tensions I've been spinning finally come full circle, and everything is resolved (or _is _it?).

This is only the first arc of this story (which still isn't quite finished yet), and there will be much, much more to come.

As always, I love to hear back from you guys, and what you think about how its going so far. Until next time!


	8. To Do What Must Be Done

Author notes:

Hey! I'm not dead! And I'm still writing things too! How cool is that?!

I'd like to thank all of you that have been keeping up with this story, and even bigger thank those who've written their feedback here in the reviews. I read all of them, and reply to just about as many. Thanks again!

Anyways, here's some more stuff I wrote for this story. Enjoy!

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_**To Do What Must be Done**_

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Shortly after the Zoness mission, Kell Zura returned home on leave. When word of his daughter's promotion to Captain reached Kell, he _insisted_ that he go back home and see her, to congratulate Sasha in person. It made a good excuse for Kell to get back home again, away from his work. Consumed with his work on the Venom project, Kell didn't get much time with his family, and even less so when the tensions spiked. So he took whatever time he could get to be with his family –his wife Tess and daughter Sasha– and he'd try to make the most of it.

Tess especially would grow lonely with the absence of her husband, and worry over him. It came with the territory of being married to a career military officer, but she was never entirely comfortable with it, especially after the family moved. Back on Corneria, Tess at least had the support of other military families and her social network of friends, which she had none of on Macbeth. It only made Tess even more lonely and worrisome when her daughter took a similar path in life, when she left for so long to train at Easthold, and then began her own tour of duty. She was happy –thrilled, in fact– to have her Sasha back home for those times when she was on leave.

This time would be a little different, however.

Kell and Tess had made travel arrangements for the week –rented a cabin in the rustic scenic Glamis Mountains– and left the family condo in Sasha's care for that time. The relatively upscale two-floor condominium hadn't really changed a bit from what Sasha remembered. It was very clean, very comfortable –kept so by Tess, who found little else to do with her time. The windows showed an impressive view of the Wayland skyline. For all intents and purposes, it was less like an apartment and more like a house, only tucked inside a much larger high-rise building.

With their daughter Sasha's help, Tess and Kell gathered the last of their bags in the condo's foyer, where they made final preparations for their trip away. Most importantly among these preparations was the good-byes to Sasha.

"We're very proud of you Sasha dear." Tess said as she hugged her daughter tightly.

"Heh, a _Captain_ already!" Kell exclaimed, placing one of his rugged hands on Sasha's shoulder, "Keep this up, and you'll be out-pacing your old man in no time."

The younger husky stepped back from her mother, and looked to Kell, "That's nice of you to say dad, but there's no way I could compete with you."

"You know Kell, maybe we should put off the travel for a bit, and do something special tonight, as a family." Tess suggested, passing a hopeful look to her husband and daughter.

"That's okay mom." Sasha said, giving her mother a knowing smile, "You you and dad have your arrangements, and I've already made my own plans for tonight anyway."

"Oh?" Tess asked, curious.

"I'm going out into town with Maya tonight." Sasha explained. It was only part of the truth, but it was the part that mattered, "celebrating the promotion, meeting people, having some fun."

"Well, if you're sure..." Sasha's mother said. She sounded hesitant,

"Sasha's a big girl now." Kell said to Tess with a chuckle, "She doesn't need us hovering over her shoulder every moment anymore. This trip is about _us, _Tess." he stood behind his wife, and clutched her very close then, eliciting a somewhat embarrassed giggle from her.

It was... nice, Sasha seeing her parents let down their hair, ease up, showing their love for each other. It helped remind that her dad wasn't in fact the cold-hearted soulless excuse of a soldier that Corneria made him out to be. Perhaps Kell _was _ruthless, back before Fortuna, but he'd changed since. After his stubborn pride took a hit like no other, after being knocked down _so_ many pegs, dad had grown to appreciate and love his family all the more. Most importantly, Kell Zura was able to step out from all that mess and he made things right, in spite of everything set against him.

It made him a hero in Sasha's eyes, the example of steadfast endurance she'd followed in her life.

"You two have fun, you've earned it." Sasha said with a smile, "I can hold down the fort here while you're away."

"Thanks for seeing us off, Sasha dear." Tess said as she stroked her daughter's cheek, giving her that look of pained maternal pride. She was proud to have seen Sasha grow up so well, yet pained that they'd grown so distant as well...

"Be sure to have fun of your own while you can..." Kell then said, his voice growing somber, full of regret? It almost sounded as if dad wanted to say 'don't make the same mistakes I did, Sasha', "Take care of the place while we're gone."

The younger husky nodded, "Don't worry dad, I will."

With their goodbyes said, it was only a matter of minutes until Kell and Tess were away, leaving Sasha alone in the family condo. That's when she went to work on her preparations for the night.

The husky had a good shower first, then brushed her freshly cleaned fur to a nice shine before afterward. Sasha then slipped into a long-sleeve black lace dress with an open back, tied in a bow with dress strings. Got did her hair in a long braid that she let rest on her shoulder, and tied off the end in a black bow. Once satisfied with her outfit and general appearance, Sasha went to on to apply the finer cosmetics.

She was in the middle of carefully applying mascara to her eyelashes when her comm, which was sitting right there next to the makeup kit, went off with an incoming call. Sasha checked the caller ID, and found it was from General Silver. Of _all _the times he could be calling her up...

The husky quietly cursed under her breath as she picked up the noisy little device, and answered the call in as professional a tone as she could manage, "General Silver?"

"Ah, Captain Zura. Thank you for receiving me." the deep booming voice wasn't nearly as imposing over the comm channel as it was in-person, but it still carried the weight of command, "I'm sorry to impose upon you, but we need you to come in."

"General, I'm on leave." Sasha reminded her commander, trying to hide the irritation in her voice, "I have other things going on tonight."

"Yes, true, I am aware, but this demands your _immediate _attention, Captain Zura." The way General Silver phrased it meant it was an order, not a suggestion, "But luckily, it will only take a minute of your time, and you may return to your evening plans afterward unhindered."

How did he know about her plans? Maybe he didn't actually know. Whatever the case, it had _better _only take a minute like he said it would.

"Understood, sir." Sasha chimed back, stifling an irritated sigh before it came out, "Where am I going?"

"33 Foster Street, in the northern reclamation district of Wayland." the General answered curtly, "Come as you are, no need for a uniform."

"I'll be there shortly, sir." the husky replied, then ended the call with the final release of a growling, grating shout, directed nowhere in particular.

Sasha was starting to think General Silver simply took pleasure in this, playing sick practical jokes on the new spec-ops officers, making an effort to call them in when it is the absolute _most_ inconvenient.

She tossed the little mascara tube in her purse so she could finish that later; right next to the small hold-out blaster she carried in there she realized. It wasn't just a little civilian-model derringer either, this was a high-powered Aran Arms 40V blaster handgun, snubbed variant, tucked into its concealed quick-draw holster in the outwardly stylish little handbag with two extra magazine cartridges. It was something of a grim reminder to Sasha, a reminder that the soldier would always be following her, always watching out for her, but also tagging along and intruding upon her private, otherwise innocent affairs...

She closed the handbag, and headed out, pulling a jacket on over her dress before exiting the family condo. It was a little chilly outside tonight, but more than that, it'd be a little awkward to go out into one the seedier reclamation districts at night, wearing just the lacy black dress and heels. That would just be inviting unneeded trouble; not that Sasha couldn't handle trouble, but still...

\

* * *

/

Thankfully, the northern reclamation district wasn't too far away from the Zura home; only a few minutes drive to get there at most. The area was a hodgepodge of older, outdated buildings, all abandoned. The district was vacated within the past several years, as part of Wayland's major rezoning project, meant to modernize and update degrading portions of the city that needed it most.

A noble goal, but for now, the northern reclamation district remained silent, and empty, at least on official business. It was well known to Waylanders that the reclamation districts were notorious for seedier activities, particularly at night. Drug dealing, illegal prostitution, gang activity and other street-level notoriety: that was Wayland's reclamation districts were. At least, that's what these areas were _supposed _to be like.

In the time Sasha had driven her hovercar through the darkened, dilapidated semi-urban area, down the many under-maintained streets, she had expected to see... something. Maybe some hungrily leering onlookers, seeing the conspicuous high-end hovercar coast through their turf eyeing possible prey. But no. The streets really were empty, devoid of any activity whatsoever, completely and utterly still.

It made Sasha feel uncomfortable, weary. It seemed like a trap, to be ordered to go somewhere secluded, no witnesses, plenty of ambush points in the surrounding buildings–

She stopped herself, before getting carried away in her thoughts. It was General Silver who ordered her here, her superior officer. She could trust him. He wouldn't do anything of the sort, would he?

The hovercar's on-board navigation system soon informed Sahsa of her arrival at the destination, 33 Foster Street. As far as she could tell, it looked much the same as the other abandoned residences in the area; a crumbling torn-out husk of a building in need of replacement.

Sasha turned the car off, letting the vehicle settle to the ground, and exited into the cool evening outside. More troubling though was the sounds, or rather, the lack of it. She would've expected to hear the usual quiet murmur of these decaying urban streets: the quiet tired conversations, occasional angry shout, a wheezing under-maintained vehicle or two. Instead, there was only silence...

The husky held her handbag close, ready to retrieve the Aran Arms 40V blaster hidden there, and made a visual sweep of her surroundings. It was empty, all empty...

A shape– a dull silhouette in one of the higher buildings, hiding out in one of the windows– a prime sniping perch...

There were footsteps nearby, closing in.

In a quick motion, Sasha drew the blaster from her handbag as she faced the oncoming threat. Her reflexes were primed, her resolve firm, and her trigger finger–

She nearly had a double-take from panic when she saw who was there. It was General Silver, the broad imposing gorilla that was her commander. He was out of uniform though, dressed instead in a modest sport-coat and slacks.

"Good evening, Captain Zura." the General greeted calmly, not at all perturbed by the firearm Sasha was aiming at his forehead.

Flustered, Sasha put her Aran Arms 40V blaster back into its place inside her purse, fumbling as she replied, "Evening, General."

"Come inside, please." The older gorilla turned and motioned toward the front door of the abandoned house, inviting Sasha in.

The two of them moved in without so much as a word; a tense, uncomfortable silence. General Silver didn't seem particularly cold, or frustrated though. It was more like he had a lot on his mind, a kind of quiet, pensive concern for larger, slower moving issues.

"Thank you for arriving on such short notice, Captain." even at the quiet volume he was speaking, the gorilla's voice still carried that ubiquitous, low rumbling gravity into his words, "I promise this won't take longer than a few minutes."

The house on the inside looked about like one would expect: broken walls, old scattered furniture, long-forgotten refuse.

"What am I doing here, exactly." Sasha asked as she further examined her surroundings.

"It will be clear in a moment." General Silver lifted a dusty framed picture off the wall, revealing a rusty wall-safe with an outdated mechanical combination lock. He dialed in a combination, and then something very bizarre began to happen.

Instead of the wall-safe opening, the floorboards of the adjoining hallway began to sink down to the sound of clicks and hisses from servo motors. In a few moments, the hallway had become a staircase leading underground. General Silver politely beckoned Sasha to go down ahead of him, which she did.

At the bottom of the staircase was little more than a small landing, and a very hefty steel blast door.

Silver followed quickly and stepped up to the panel next to the door. There, the hefty gorilla submitted to a palm-print reader and eye scanner, to which a mechanical voice responded with, "access granted."

The blast door slid open, revealing a sterile, straight hallway of concrete lined with several doors along its length. Every few meters or so, there was a security camera bubble; by their orientation, every angle was covered twice over, eliminating blind-spots, making it an extraordinarily difficult to bypass externally Who could've been operating this place? How did they manage to build and maintain such an advanced facility in the middle of Wayland, Macbeth of all places?

Just then, Sasha spotted a soldier walking down the barren hallway, a simian from what she could make out. He was very stoic as he trod through, almost statuesque in his form; highly trained, highly disciplined, highly deadly. The mystery soldier was equipped in a set of black military fatigues, advanced body armor, and a helmet with a dark-tinted visor. He didn't say a single word when he passed, and only gave Sasha and the General a careful, scrutinizing gaze. Then he just went on his way, continuing his silent patrol.

"Venomian Shadow-Guard." General Silver said, answering the question he knew Sasha was asking in her mind.

"Venomian?" the husky repeated. "What is this place, General?" And also, though Sasha didn't ask aloud: what were they doing here? What did they want with her?

"It's merely a safehouse, nothing more." the gorilla answered. Sasha figured there was more to it, but he wasn't saying.

They arrived outside one of the many doors along the hallway, where another one of these so-called 'Shadow-Guards' stood sentinel, rifle held at stock-still attention. When the dark-clad soldier saw General Silver approach though, he stood aside, and pressed a few keys on the wall panel next to him.

The door slid open, into a darkened room, and General Silver beckoned Sasha to enter. "Once you're inside, I believe you will understand my haste in bringing you here."

There was a note of finality in the General's words, as if he didn't intend to go in with her, "You're not going in?"

"No." the gorilla answered, shaking his head slowly, "This is for you alone, Captain."

There were a few silent moments then, nobody did anything. All Sasha could think about was questions: who would go through this much trouble to bring Sasha here alone? Why wouldn't General Silver say anything? Could this be some kind of trap? How skilled were these macabre seeming 'Shadow-Guards' actually?

In the end though, Sasha simply accepted that going inside the dark room was the thing that had to be done. Still, she kept a hand ready to retrieve the Aran Arms 40V blaster from her purse, just in case.

"Understood, sir." the Husky replied, even though she really didn't understand anything at all.

She stepped inside the room, and the door slid shut behind, putting her in total darkness, but only for a moment.

The lights switched on, revealing a very plain square room, with nothing but two chairs and a small table in the center. No windows, no cameras; nothing but the light fixtures and a small air vent.

"Good evening, Miss Zura." A polite older man's voice greeted.

Sasha knew that voice, there were very few people in Lylat who _didn't_ recognize it. The voice belonged to the older simian man sitting at the table: Dr. Andross. He looked much as he had in his speeches, in a comfortable sport coat and simple shirt. He had a demeanor that was much more like a scholarly professor, receiving a student at his office in a university, rather than a major political leader.

"I do apologize for having General Silver rush you in on such short notice. It's... well... rather dangerous for me to be conspicuous these days." Andross confessed, "You understand, I hope."

"Actually, I don't understand at all." Sasha rebuked, "What exactly am I doing here, with you, alone?"

Sasha found it remarkably easy to speak with Andross. She would've expected to be far more intimidated to be in the presence of someone as iconic to the Venom movement as Andross himself, to be flustered or tongue-tied. Instead, the calm, receptive air he presented gave Sasha a certain feeling of freedom, of security.

"A fair question." Andross conceded with a small nod of agreement, "Have a seat, and I will do my best to clarify things."

The elder ape gestured to the chair across from him, inviting Sasha to sit down. She did so, and Andross continued.

"My good friend Connor Griffon tells me you've done exemplary work on Zoness, that you _'played a crucial role'_ in tying off the loose end that was a certain individual named Richard Cooney. Is that right?"

"I just helped turn Cooney's own bodyguard against him, that's all." Sasha confirmed with a little shrug.

"Your modesty is admirable, Miss Zura, but you need not be so quick to sell yourself short. You used what few other soldiers would have were they in your position: guile, deception, personal manipulation– and to great effect, I may add. Most others would have taken the more direct route, killed off Cooney and his bodyguard with him, which would alerted his contacts to our involvement, and thus seriously gum things up with our own network of contacts. It's much cleaner this way."

"Cooney was only one man, and his bodyguard was happy turn against him. It was hardly anything exemplary."

"To you perhaps, but I've... dealt with Richard before, years ago. His involvement in his enemies' affairs was something not unlike a plague to their plans –eroding away at years of hard work, billions of credits invested, thousands of good people betrayed– all by this singular... insidious _worm_ of a man." there was a touch of anger seeping through Andross's voice now, an inkling of personal resentment. He paused a moment, regaining his calm composure, and continued again, "While it does sadden me that Connor couldn't bring him into our family, convince him to see things our way, I take relief in knowing that we won't have his fingers tangling things up for us, and I thank you for your part in it."

"I barely did anything though." Sasha insisted, "There was no fight, no major conflict; just one shot fired, and one dead spy."

"Precisely, Miss Zura. Precisely." A knowing smile drew across the sagely simian as he said this, "I have always believed the bravest, most valiant actions are those with the fewest lives destroyed in the process. Believe me, with Cooney out of the way, _far _fewer innocent people will be caught in the impending crossfire now."

"Crossfire?" Sasha asked, "What crossfire?" She had a feeling what it was, but she wanted to hear Andross explain his side of things.

"Surely you've seen it, Miss Zura: conflict with Corneria is all but inevitable. We are at odds against each other, and both sides are actively preparing for full-scale _war,_ a war which I sincerely hope will not have to be fought." the words almost pained old ape to say them, pausing a moment to gather himself before going on, "But, if certain plans are seen through to fruition, I believe we can end this war before it starts, before anyone has to die needlessly."

"What do you mean? Why are you telling me this?" the curiosity was tearing at Sasha now, to get at the heart of why Andross brought her here. A figure as singular as Dr. Andross wouldn't do something like this on a whim, hopefully.

"Because, Miss Zura, in order to see these plans through, I will need certain people I can count on to help, people in whom I can trust above and beyond all else, individuals with the resolve and dedication do what must be done."

And there was his reason.

"You want me to be one of these people."

The elder simian gave Sasha a slow, sincere nod, confirming this.

"But, I'm just a soldier." Sasha insisted.

"But you are also _far_ more than just a soldier." Andross insisted back, "You are a resourceful, cunning woman; decisive, commanding, dedicated. Most importantly: you have a good heart, you proved as much on Zoness. On the contrary, Miss Zura, you are _exactly _the sort of person I need as a part of a special cadre."

"What exactly does this 'special cadre' of yours do?" Sasha asked, intent to get as many details as she could.

"Whatever must be done." Andross answered coolly, "More specifically, whatever I cannot trust others to do."

He was vague, but there were some telltale signs of what he was implying, "Are there trust issues in your chain of command?"

"More than you realize, Miss Zura." the elder simian answered, his voice weary and tired, "The most damaging enemies to the cause of Venom are not far from us, but within: with those we believe to be our allies, our friends, even our family. Richard was one such enemy in his time, and I can promise you that he will not be the last."

"Are there specific threats you're worried about?"

"No, and that is the true horror of it." Andross answered in a grave , almost fearful voice, "Many who claim to follow my vision of peace are mere brutes, no better than the petty Cornerian warmongers we've been pitted against. Others are spies, working to undermine us on behalf of our outside enemies. Some of our supporting powers seek to sway my vision to favor them at the expense of the true cause, and are willing to stoop to the lowest means to attempt to persuade me. The cause of Venom has grown fast in its time, _too _fast. The militaristic opportunistic peripheries of the cause has far outgrown its core mantra of peace and progress, and threatens to destroy _everything_ I've worked so tirelessly to achieve. They threaten to make a hornet's nest out of our beehive!"

"Excuse me: a hornet's nest?"

"You understand basic ecology, yes?" Andross asked, with a sudden lightening up in his demeanor, "The significant difference of ecological functions between bees and hornets, despite outward similarities?"

"It's... been a while since I had to study for that class." What did this have to do with what he was talking about?

"It's quite simple, really." Dr. Andross took on the air of a teacher now; a wise scholar to a engaged student, "Honeybees are first and foremost: workers and builders, all part of a greater whole that work not just for the benefit of themselves, but also for the benefit of the environment they live in. They help to pollinate plants in the area, allowing them thrive to the benefit of other creatures that use them. True, the bee is armed with a potent venom, but will only use it as a last resort, to drive off a far greater threat and to preserve the work of the hive. Hornets are armed with venom as well, but they are infinitely more aggressive, and far less useful to their ecosystem overall. Hornets will actively attack and prey upon any other animal that strays too near, plundering the nests of other insects like savage raiders. They do not pollinate plants, nor produce honey. They are often little more than pests; dangerous. and highly volatile _pests_..."

The elder simian seemed so much more in his element in this state, as a teacher, helping to explain the workings of the world. He looked so much less comfortable discussing the grave situations and grand plans of Venom, the way she'd seen during his speeches, the way he soon switched back to.

"I am not oblivious to history, Miss Zura." Andross continued, "The dangerous and volatile pests of Lylat's past were always, without exception, hunted down, fought against, and stamped out by far more determined opponents. If the cause of Venom continues to become corrupted by aggression and hate, justifiable as it may be, the cause _will _fail. We will find ourselves facing relentless enemies against which we simply cannot prevail, and our sympathizers will abandon us when they see how depraved we become. _This_ is why I need people I can trust, beyond a shadow of a doubt, to eliminate obstacles and confront threats I cannot trust to the armies who fight in my name. _This_ why I need people like you, Miss Zura."

He leaned in, and gave the husky a look, a kind of imploring, not-quite commanding look. It was a look that trusted Sasha unconditionally, but which also demanded similarly deep trust in return.

"I'm... flattered –honored, even– that you'd take me in like this. It's just..." Sasha took a moment, trying to know the best way to phrase this, "Well, you've given me a lot to think about, Andross sir."

"It's quite alright, I understand." the older ape said as he lightened up with a little chuckle, "You've planed a well-earned night of leisure for yourself, which I've so rudely interrupted, and you're pressed for time. Don't let me keep you any longer, please, you deserve better than this from me."

"I appreciate it." the husky stood up, adjusting the jacket over her black lacy dress, "Who should I contact?"

"Oh don't you worry about that, Miss Zura. We shall be in touch, that much I can promise you." Andross assured her, standing up himself, "For now, you have an evening to go and enjoy."

He showed Sasha out, and gave her some final parting words, "This is an absolutely lovely dress, by the way."

"Thank you." the husky replied with a polite smile back, as she exited the room, and left Andross behind.

\

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/

A few minutes' drive later, Sasha left the northern reclamation district behind, along with all that business with Andross. It was a lot to think about, a lot to consider, but not now. Now was the time to go back to the original plans for tonight: dinner with Maya. Hopefully Sasha wouldn't be too late after being sidetracked by all that before. Parking would've been tricky, if not outright impossible, but a space near the restaurant had opened up just as Sasha pulled near it.

About a minute's walk after that, and Sasha was at the restaurant.

The restaurant Sasha and Maya had agreed on for tonight, like many, would be particularly busy on the weekends, and tonight was no exception. The entrance to upscale eatery, which served mostly popular Zonessian style food, was packed from one end to the other, with a line extending outside a ways. Sasha worried for a moment if she'd be able to find Maya in this throng.

The husky walked up the stairs outside into the restaurant's the entrance, past throngs of waiting people. Sasha noticed she was catching a few eyes in the process, watching her elegant display.

The entrance was guarded by a sharp-dressed avian maître d', standing sentinel behind a small podium that stood between the entrance and the restaurant proper. He was flanked by a highly trained bouncer: a tall equine with a slick black coat against whom not even Sasha would want to tangle with, not even on her best day.

"May I help you?" the avian behind the podium asked in a cool, but still hospitable voice.

"Reservation for Kaido and Zura." Sasha requested.

The maître d' looked down, and confirmed the information on his podium's digital display before responding, "Ah yes. Ms. Kaido arrived shortly before you did. I will have someone show you to your table."

The avian motioned for a nearby idle waiter, who arrived immediately, and led Sasha into the main dining floor of the restaurant itself. She felt some anticipation building up now, like an anxiety, but a good kind of anxiety. The prospect of being with Maya would usually make the husky giddy, but this time, there was no fear getting in the way to make her nervous. It would just be the two of them, with each other.

A few moments later, Sasha spied someone sitting at a table set for two, in one of the quieter, more intimate corners of the restaurant floor. It was Maya! The husky found herself walking straight there, with a comforting warmth rising inside her at seeing her good friend...

There she was, wearing a stunning red strapless satin dress that ended above the knee, her legs covered in black stockings. Her white-tipped black tail waved behind her, betraying a bit of nervousness from Maya at the moment as they met up. Without a word, the beautiful feline stood up, and wrapped her arms around her date in an intimate embrace. This caused a minor tremor of feelings to rush through Sasha, but she caught herself, before getting carried away. for this event, and quickly regained control.

"I'm so sorry I'm late, Maya." Sasha said as they separated from the embrace.

"It's alright, Sasha." the feline assured, giving Sasha a sweet smile, "I only got here a few minutes earlier anyway."

Sasha couldn't help but notice a few of Maya's not entirely usual mannerisms: swaying tail, wandering eyes, fidgeting fingers. "Everything okay?" She asked the cat.

"I'll be honest, I'm still kinda nervous about all this..." Maya confessed, her voice a little strained.

"You? Nervous?"

"Don't make fun of me, Sash!"

"But it's cute though, seeing you like this for once."

This was unusual for the cat, for her be the nervous one on a date. Normally, Maya would be firmly in control during these romantic situations, as she had been in her relationships with guys before. It'd be understandable now though, with this being Maya's first romantic date with a woman, even it was her longtime friend.

Sasha gently grasped the dark feline by her hand to reassure her, and walked her back to her seat at their table. It was an especially intimate table, set for two, with single rose resting in a vase at the center. The candle next to it was now alight with a little dancing flame, courtesy of the waiter who'd lit it just then.

Sasha took off her jacket at set it on the back of her chair, fully displaying the lacy black dress she'd picked out for this special evening.

"Oh wow, this looks gorgeous!" Maya said to the husky, commenting on her dress as they sat down across from each other.

"Thanks!" Sasha couldn't help but blush at those words from Maya, "But you know, I have _you_ to thank for helping develop my taste in fashion."

The two of them exchanged a couple heartfelt smiles, and a few moments of content silence in each others' company. A few moments later though, Maya spoke up.

"So... how many girls _have_ you dated?" the cat asked asked, very curious, almost suspiciously so, "I've never really seen you out with anyone before."

"Well, none, actually." Sasha confessed, more a little embarrassed, "I've never really had the courage to ask anyone."

This got an amused little laugh from Maya, "You mean to say, Captain Sasha Zura of Macbeth's Special Forces –she who has the courage to face down insurmountable enemies, leading her crack squad into the heat of battle– is afraid, of all things, to ask a girl out?"

"Yeah, I know..." Sasha replied, shifting awkwardly in her chair, "Its just so silly."

"It's not that bad, it's a lot like some of the shier guys I used to know." Maya replied in a reassuring tone, "All of them were adorable, but nowhere near as you, Sasha."

This got a major blush from the husky. Maya called her adorable! How could she not feel good about that after all?

"Still, you found the courage to go ahead and _kiss_ _me_." Maya leaned forward, not-so-accidentally flashing some cleavage at Sasha across the table, along with a playful little smile. Seeing her date show off her bust that way only made Sasha's blush deepen, going into such provocative territory.

Maya couldn't help but laugh a little at Sasha's blatant inexperience, try as she might to hide it. Still, inexperienced as Sasha was, this was bold new territory for Maya as well, to romantically engage with a woman for the first time in her life. Sasha wasn't sure how she could ever repay Maya for the chance she was taking on her...

Well, actually, Sasha had a few ideas how to thank Maya: ideas she was anxious to try later that night, after dinner. One way or another, that night was going to be one to remember, that much Sasha could be certain of.

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/

Author notes:

Well, there's really not too much more to say here, other than to stay alert for new developments, new content, and to stay cool!

As always though, your feedback is most welcome.


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